In Certain Terms
by Anotherjaneway
Summary: McConnike raises hairs in the gang and the crew of Station 51 faces a loss no firefighter should bear.


This is a text version of the original still airing imaged, music soundtracked story.

Emergency Theater Live, Episode Twenty Two

22. In Certain Terms Season Three - Episode 22 Short summary-  
McConnike raises hairs in the gang and the crew of Station 51 faces a loss no firefighter should bear.

****WARNING**** The long summary to come is very story spoiling and will take away plot surprises if you read it now before reading the longer story below it.

Decide now if you want to read this episode's detailed summary before doing so.

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Long Summary-  
Dix and Kel share conmiserations about a busy day at Rampart.  
Station 51 scrambles to thwart yet another surprise inspection by Fire Chief McConnikee. Station 51 responds to a violent drug overdose call. En route to Rampart, their ambulance is halted by a nearby landslide and fire ants end the rescue abruptly. Attention shifts to a slide victim, a young boy in cardiac difficulty. Rampart worries about 51's cut off radio status. Station 51 responds to a man trapped under his slide toppled house and get basement hole buried in the process. Rescued,  
they mull over an invention Chet created that'll ease ambulance-in-motion CPR.

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The Story Unfolds...

Season Three, Episode Twenty Two.  
In Certain Terms Debut Launch: June 1st, 2005.

*  
From: "rampartbase" Date: Sat Jun 4, 2005 7:18 pm Subject: Trying again. rampartbase

Kel was looking forward to his vacation. The last couple times,  
things hadn't worked out. Something either got in the way of his going or work interrupted it. He was feeling a bit burned out and needed to get away for a few days.

---------------------------------------------------------

Photos: None.

*  
From: "Cory Anda" Date: Mon Jun 6, 2005 3:06 pm Subject: The Deep Heat...

Dr. Brackett sighed as he closed the medical reference text he had been reading on his desk in the office with an impatient thud and he rubbed his eyes in immense fatigue. ::Maybe I can get by with just eating something. Dix's already been on me for that since two o'clock.:: he thought. He studied his watch. ::ohmyg*d. It's five p.m. already?::

Kel picked up the phone and dialed her desk again.

Dixie McCall looked up from the patient chart she was working on when the olive phone next to her started ringing. "Rampart Emergency.  
This is Miss McCall." she said.

##Hey, Dix.##

"So, Kel. So are you going to stop slamming books around long enough to take me up on my offer to buy me my long overdue lunch? We can trade why-I-need-a-vacation-right-now stories over a pair of burnt cheeseburgers." said the nurse with a frown into the phone receiver.

Unconsciously, Kel quickly glanced down at the Merck's Manual he had just abused and slowly loosened his tight gripping fingers from the book's cover.  
Then he caught himself and began to smile. "So, are you tapped into the security camera in here?"

"No. There isn't a monitor wired by me. Besides, anything that goes on in your office lately is something I don't really wanna know about firsthand. I'm hearing enough about your frustrations from all my nurses that you've been so thoroughly berating this week, letting off some steam." said Dixie in a huff.

"They can handle it. Doctors are supposed to be authoritative whenever stupid mistakes happen. It's part of doing my job."

"Not when it effects mine and makes my life miserable..." fired back Dixie in a confidential hiss so no one else working near her could overhear.

"Sorry, Dix. I guess I have been overreacting a bit. The air conditioning's not working in here again and I've had a lot to handle lately."

"A lot of what? You're down only one doctor today with Joe touring the fire stations to get feedback from the medics about how they like that new rescue squad program idea of yours. Remember that he went out into the field on your orders. Perhaps you should have been the one to go digging for that desired feedback in his place." Dix said.

"Nah," Kel said controlling his voice to be milder than a slow sizzle. "It was proper that he be the one. Besides, with the rate of cardiacs flooding in here because of the heat this week, I have to stay available for all the angioplastys and surgeries they seem to be needing." Kel sighed. "Joe's been doing them for a month straight. I'm spelling him as a favor because he's been getting a little grumpy."

Dixie let out a little strained laugh.  
"And you haven't been?! I'll let you in on a little secret. You've overtaken Dr. Morton these days as being the worst in the bedside and deskside manner department in the latest buzz through the house grapevine." sighed Dixie saucily. "Kel, I lost two trainee nurses because of another bout of your temper this morning. And I don't think they'll be coming back. Just what am I supposed to do now?"

Kel remained silent.

Dixie decided to end the angry pause pronto.  
"It's definitely too late for you to apologize to them and almost impossible to soothe the ruffled feathers on me so the least you can do is humor me by buying me a solid hot, steaming lunch! It'll be a break for you and cathartic for me to not yell at you anymore. I'm done with that right now! Deal?"

Dr. Brackett shifted in his chair uncomfortably when he remembered belatedly the tears he had seen in two pairs of eyes when one of the newer student nurses had knocked a Betadine basin off of his sterile tray during a suturing repair. The dark yellow antimicrobial had spilled onto the floor and all over his hundred and fifty dollar pair of Swiss made leather shoes and endangered the patient by making Brackett jump with his hemostat held suture needle and thread that had been still attached deeply to skin. "I guess." he snapped reluctantly.

"No, don't guess. Just open your wallet. I promise to leave MY frustrations behind at my desk. You do the same at yours. See you at our usual cafeteria table under our favorite birdless palm tree in five minutes. Oh, and by the way.  
I've got a surprise for you I think you're gonna like."

Click!

Dr. Brackett actually flinched at the sound of the terminating line because he was still so wound up.

He hung up the dial tone humming dead phone and lay his head back down onto his sweating hands. "I hate surprises. Especially when it's not my birthday..." he grumbled, staring into the fish tank and at the catfish that had once bitten him. "What are you looking at?" he snapped.

The silver catfish, of course, didn't reply.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Photo: Dixie, mad.

Photo: Dixie placating a flustered student nurse.

Photo: Dixie surrounded by a cluster of nurses.

Photo: Brackett regretting past behavior in his office.

Photo: Dix and Kel fauning over his new office fish tank.

Photo: Dix and Kel sitting in the hospital cafeteria, eating.

*  
From : patti keiper Sent : Sunday, June 12, 2005 5:13 PM Subject : Finger licking good.. Chief boot licking, too.

Johnny Gage and Roy DeSoto were in the locker room,  
hastily changing out of shower towels as fast as they could manage. The fire that they had just wrapped up was already a far distant memory.

Roy leaned forward, standing over the wooden bench, propped up on top of it with a still soggy bare foot while he struggled to put on a midnight colored uniform sock, until his face was inches away from his equally awkward hurrying partner. He wobbled in place fighting over the glue of water to don it. His dripping back crashed against his locker door as he almost fell in his tremendous haste.  
"Are you sure? I mean is Cap sure? Ohmyg*d. He'll be here in five minutes?" he stage whispered over Hank's shouted panicky orders echoing through the vehicle bay.

"Yeah." grunted Gage as a stubborn damp T-shirt didn't make it completely over his head. "He got the triple ring with nobody on the line himself from Station Eight's on the captain's pager. McConnike's beelining for our station as ....we ....speak!" Johnny squeaked keeping his voice down desperately. He cracked in genuine fear. "You know the new secret code we got set up with the other stations about snap inspections. Don't you remember Dwyer setting up this system so everyone wouldn't haveta suffer an unpleasant surprise by the chief sneaking in? The first fire house falling under seige from even the barest glimpse of a creeping battalion car onto property, agrees..." he hissed.

Roy interrupted him citing the mantra. "....to give warning amply ahead of time for the rest of us.." he hissed.  
"I know. I know. Just keep an ear out for Henry's bark from the couch!  
He's already guarding the doors, listening for a Chevy idle big time."

Johnny was skinny and won his battle between wet skin and dry clothes.  
He was way ahead of Roy, but cursed when he snapped a shoelace while hurrying mightly. "ShhHHHT!" he yelled aloud and immediately covered his mouth to stifle it. Far too late.

Hank's voice boomed out from the garage. "I don't wanna hear a single solitary peep from in there if you know what's good for you! Shut up, twits!  
And get those clothes on, A.S.A.P. ! I don't wanna hear talking or I promise I'll deliver on my threat to give out tower details for the rest of your working careers!"

Johnny and Roy both ducked into cringing curls, dressing even faster than before, comically stumbling and rushing to get into shape in spite of their damp skins. Gage reached behind his poster for an emergency roll of black electrical tape. He bit off a large piece and started wrapping his foot snugly with his all expert paramedic long board taping skills, to hold his still loose shoe onto his foot.

Roy's eyes goggled as his fingers flew to button up his shirt. "Nice idea.."  
he said in awe.

"Dwyer's too. He said the chief never lifts pants cuffs to check higher than the toes for polish shines."

Then the two of them ran for the doorway. They corked in the doorjam, shoulder to shoulder for long seconds until they unpretzel-ed themselves and ran for the hat locker next to the squad.

Stoker was hastily scrubbing the Ward's front fender chrome with licked fingers and his butt, like a back scratching bear.

Hank noticed. "Forget that! The chief'll smell the fire smoke. He'll know that we just got back from an alarm call. Get in line!" he gestured sharply at the invisible one before the rest of the gathering gang's toes perpendicular to the county wall map. "And don't scuff the floor running over here! He'll see!"

Chet whistled and drew out a small dark blue bottle from his pocket. "After shave! Spritz down, everybody! Dwyer says this trick works, too!"

The bottle was passed like a hot potato from hand to hand as it was used then hidden snugly again in Chet's shirt pocket.

To their credit, the firemen didn't struggle with finding their different sized dress uniform hats. They had long surmounted that little problem by using spare accountability tags neatly tucked into their inside crown seams. They had a whole thirty seconds before Henry's muffled wuff from the kitchen's depths announced the firing gun going off.

The gang quickly combed wash wrinkled fingers through their hair and inspected each other rapidly for the slightest deviations. Cap barely corrected the crooked angle on the wall clock with a pinky before they all snapped to straight attention at the sound of the side kitchen door squealing open.

Hank mumbled from the corner of his mouth. "Nice touch not remembering to D-W 40 the hinges..." he said in admiration to Stoker on his left.

"Figured overlooking that would be just minor points off for the maximum benefit.."  
Mike replied through the corner of his.

Henry preceeded Chief McConnike, energetically seeking the chief's hands actively for some attention as he had been secretly trained to do by Chet. This allowed everyone to compose their inspection stressed faces into fascimiles of social smiles.

McConnike was oblivious to the dog delay ploy. He wholeheartedly greeted 51's hound dog as only a fire station dog lover could. "Heya boy! I'm glad to see you, too,  
big fella! How'ya doing? These boys feedin ya too much again? Well I'll fix that." he chuckled, patting the snuffing, drooling Henry's ribs affectionately.  
And then he looked up.

The chief immediately blinked when he saw the silently straight backed, impeccably positioned firemen standing in a row, already in front of the fire trucks before him.  
He knew he didn't need to draw out a ruler to measure the spacing between them because everything was absolutely....perfect.

He eyed the bay, sniffed the air for fire smoke to dismiss the fire trucks currently sooty conditions. And then approached Hank as was customary. But he couldn't hide the shock of his sudden appearance failing to surprise his current inspection targets. "Hank. Gentlemen. What's with all this?" he said, throwing a careless hand to the air between them.

Cap cooly replied. "What, sir? Welcome to Station 51, chief, uh, sir. I hope you find everything in its proper order." he said with barely reined in smugness.

McConnike narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but one glance at the receiving alcove mic panel showed that it hadn't been used for recent intra-station communication.  
At all.

"The sink's dripping in there." the chief said finally, while the gang's eyes twinkled secretly as his puzzlement grew at their lack of nervousness.

"Stoker. Go fix that." Hank said neutrally.

"Immediately, sir.." said Mike neatly saluting. He and Henry beelined for the kitchen in formation. Stoker coughed a smoke cough to hide his opening the fridge to reward Henry with a piece of bacon for delaying the chief's entry. Then he tightened up the water faucet and returned to his place in the inspection line.

Henry retreated to his dog house to chew his savory mouthful.

The gang stood quietly composed while the chief walked rings slowly around the squad and engine, casually opening gear doors to check their inner contents,  
without further comment. His eyes widened when he saw hose couplings, neatly strung on tarp ties, organized by size in the engine's cab along the back equipment hooks in between the hanging scba tanks. "Who's idea is this?"

Sheepishly, Marco Lopez raised his hand. "Mine, sir.. Do you like it?"

"Yeah, can I borrow it to ply onto other stations? I can write it in as new protocol."

"Feel free..." the hispanic firefighter replied. He was nudged with a shoe from Chet to wipe the cheshire's grin off his face. Kelly's eyes said it all. ::Tone it down and we'll survive..::

"Thanks, crewman." said the chief. He slowly opened up the squad's doors to peer at all the medical gear on the driver's side. "Where's the defib been moved to?"

Gage piped up, sniffing hastily. "Uh, on the passenger side, chief. Upper left compartment. We found that a squad rider can grab it and the resuscitator more quickly than if the driver does it. Saves about fifteen seconds since a passenger doesn't have to put anything into park before he does it, ....sir." he added.

"Can I use that idea, too?"

"Certainly.." Roy said, with perfect timing.

McConnike merely grunted. Then he slowly shook his head in the barest grudging admiration for what he was seeing around him. "Congratulations, gentlemen." He said with an expansive sigh. "You're the first firehouse this quarter to have five or less points taken off on one of my infamous pop inhouse checks."

Hank smiled broadly, but then started to frown, and broke his eyes away from the far wall where they had been staring. "Wait a minute, chief, uh, sir. A dripping sink's only three points/demerits. Where'd the other two come from?"

The chief grinned, and pointed. "From the Ward. She's parked partially blocking the doorway leading to the bunk room. That'll slow how you guys'll pile in here by a few seconds if you all try to squeeze through one by one, getting by her, to answer a call."

"Stoker...." Cap said again..

Mike anticipated. "..Fix that. Yep. I'm on it." said the engineer. And he smartly about faced once more to correct the error. Then he returned back into line and McConnike held them all there, still at attention, while he gave their uniforms a good eyeing over.

McConnike noticed the waft of aftershave with surprise, but then he nodded in satisfaction. "Yeah. Wearing scent'll be good for calming female victims down. Nice thought, fellas. Can I borrow--" he asked.

All the gang murmured hasty acquiesences for that idea as the ones for the nozzles' order and the defibrillator's store shift and then they froze back into ramrod places.

A minute dragged by and Gage ate a drip of sweat when the chief's eye swept over his shoes.

Hank cleared his throat finally with the barest sign of strain.

And that, satisfied the chief's perpetual appetite to make his favorite captain remember his burning hat sin yet again.

"I'm through. At ease. Who's making the chow today, guys?" he said, dropping the officienado stance. "I'm starving."

Five sets of index fingers stabbed to the right. "Stoker." came the reply in stereo.

"Fine. Fine. Hope it's fried chicken for lunch."

"Of course." Mike grumbled in amusement. "Nothing but the best for a busy fire season."

"Don't rub it in.." Cap mouthed to him behind McConnike's back.

Stoker immediately amended. "Uh, I'm trying to recreate the batter from a fast food place."

"Oh?" cheeped the chief. "Which one?"

"It's from a new joint called ah, uh...Colonel Sander's .." Stoker stretched.

"Tenessee Fried Chicken." Lopez supplied eagerly to help him out.

Stoker couldn't summon up the courage to correct him on the proper state's name of the brand new restaurant.

"Hmm, guess the missus and I'll have to try that one out." smiled the chief.

Kelly piped in, while gathering up the hats into their customary box and heading for the mop closet. "You can't miss it, sir. It's on Laredo and San Bernadino Blvd in Torrance. A victorian guy looking like Mark Twain's on the sign and the building's got diagonal red and white stripes on it around the roofing."

"I'll remember it. Thanks." And they all filed into the kitchen.

While they were eating, McConnike struck up unusual casual conversation.  
"Fellas. Have you heard of the fireman's contest I'm starting up next month yet?"

Everyone admitted their negation.

"Well, the prize is a whole year of no spot inspections to the firehouse I vote as the winning entry." the chief grinned.

"Really.." said Hank, perking in interest as he chewed a drumstick hungrily.  
"What kind of contest?"

"Equipment re-designing. Game, fellas?"

"Sure am. Uh, we are.." Cap said quickly.

"And we'll win it, too, chief. Just for you.." Chet muttered out loud.  
Stage whispering to Stoker, he added. "Because you gave us such good marks this time around on our records."

Mike flashed him a warning silent hush with a greasy finger.

But McConnike had been thinking too much about filling his stomach to overhear that remark. "Fine, I'll send the details over by courier from the head office as soon as I get back. I think I'm gonna go make a hit on station th-- uh, down yonder next." and he rose in his chair, wiping his mouth with his paper napkin. He was, of course, the first to empty his plate. Decades of experience had made McConnike a veteran food vacuum at which the others could only admire.

They hastily rose in their chairs, too, as the chief took his leave of them.

Chuckling, the chief picked up two drumsticks from Stoker's platter. "Might tasty, Mr. Stoker. When you declare this recipe as fitting identical to that chicken stand, I'd love a copy of it."

"It'll be yours." promised the engineer.

"Good. I like new chow recipes to hand out at all my firehouses as much as I like to collect organizational ideas during one of my inspections. Keep up the good work, 51." he said, tossing one of the chicken pieces to the couch where Henry's head suddenly emerged from the leather cushions to neatly intercept it.

And with that, he was gone.

The kitchen door had barely closed behind him when the gang piled against the window, to watch him pull away in the chief's car down the side drive to the avenue beyond.

"Left! He turned left!" Chet piped up excitedly.

"Doesn't help us." said Roy. "That still leaves either station thirteen or thirty as his next target."

"No problem." said Gage. "We'll just warn them both with Dwyer's ringing--"

"Marco, get it done from the office. Gage use the payphone to save time."  
Hank ordered, still watching out the window through the peep blinds.

"With my dime?!" Johnny protested.

"You certainly aren't going to use mine..." Cap snapped. "Now, hush and think of the service you're doing for your fellow firefighters. Eight's certainly done it for us. Now move."

"Moving, Cap." Gage grumbled, making for the phone. But then he about faced. "Hey guys. I just had a horrible thought."

"What's that?" Chet asked, diving into his plate of chicken again and licking all of his fingers like he couldn't do in front of the chief.

"What if McConnike's onto us with the ring warn network? He could've slipped us that station's number of his planned route on purpose.  
After all, he's been in the fire service long enough to know all the tricks."

That stopped everybody chewing. But then Marco scoffed with a laugh.  
"What's he gonna do? Have Vince begin tracing fire station phone lines?  
That's illegal. Besides, nobody's even doing any talking when we're warning each other. Just the rings and the hangup after three."

"Still, he could trace that as having come from one firehouse to another."  
Gage surmised.

"No chance in h*ll, Johnny. Our scheme's flawless for a change. Anyone could say they were calling up a station when their own got called out on a run, interrupting business." Kelly explained.

Gage hung onto the phone receiver and bobbed it against his chin. "Yeah.. never thought of that."

"Gage!"

"Cap?"

"Call. Thirteen's is only four minutes from here!" Hank growled,  
eating from his center breast without looking up from his meal.

"Uh, right. Right." And Gage gave out the warning to one of the two stations that might be next under the chief's pop inspection gun.  
After he made his call, he frowned again, the devil's own advocate. "Guys. What if the chief never shows up at either station?  
Would the other fellas who had to rush butt to get into order remember that it was us who tipped them off falsely? They might take that as a malicious joke and get their revenge by not warning us about the chief's knocking on doors next time around."

That, put the others back into worry mode faster than hose water on fire flames.

But then, L.A. was merciful and delivered them from troubled thoughts instantly. **Eee Ohh OOOoooooo.** issued the chrome holed speaker. ##Station 51. Unknown type medical. 412 south Davis St. 412 south Davis street. Cross street Melton. Time out : 13:55. ##

Johnny beat the others to the response mic. "Station 51, 10-4. KMG 365." Snick. And then he said, unnecessarily. "Let's roll guys."

Soon, the kitchen lay abandoned as they leaped for the trucks. And the lounging dog noticed exactly what things had been forgotten that would really make his day a happy one.

In spite of his short stature and great bulk, Henry used some brainy gray cells that he had only used once before with his human companions and a certain missing plate of food.

He bit into a chair leg, and tugged until its wooden seat was exposed. Then he leaped up with an eager moan onto the table top, sniffing like a blood hound.

He found the one quarter full, still steaming chicken platter in two seconds and started gnawing happily with bright full fledged tail wags. ::Guess my reward for the day just got a little bigger. :: the dog thought. ::Stupid firemen. They're so gullible.::

Henry burped as he ate.

And Station 51 hit their sirens liberally as they responded to their assigned rescue in the immediate nearby neighborhood.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Photo: Roy and Gage in a sharp whispering argument, locker room.

Photo : Gage and DeSoto in a door jam pileup shoulder to shoulder.

Photo: Stoker serving chicken to the table.

Photo: Chief McConnike shaking Cap's hand in the bay.

Photo: Henry chewing on a bone inside his doghouse on the couch.

Photo: Stoker's view of the squad's rear from the engine cab, driving.

*  
From: "Champagne Scott" Date: Mon Jun 20, 2005 7:20 pm Subject: The Sad High..

Station 51 pulled up at the edge of the cliffside homes ringing the La Conchita neighborhood. The surrounding hillside was covered with a dense carpet of coastal sage shrub and some scattered trees, so thick that Johnny noticed.  
"It's sure green out here. This area in a fog zone?"

"Yeah, the ocean's a mile that way." Roy replied, pointing downward where all the roads were converging. "Builds a rain effect."

Cap flipped off the sirens when he, too, spotted the correct house address.

Hurrying, the gang helped Roy and Johnny gather their complete set of treatment gear and they all clustered around the front door. Cap rapped sharply on the peach colored doorface. "Los Angeles County Fire Department! Can anyone hear me?"

There was no reply.

"Chet. Marco." ordered Hank. "Check the back. Mike, let's check in all the windows."

The firemen separated, leaving the medical equipment at the paramedics' sides.

Right about then, Vince Howard showed up, pulling up quickly in his squad car.

"What's the call, Vince?" Cap asked the helmeted policeman as he alternately peeked into every window he found while shouting his station's identity. The yard rang with their loud shouts of attention aimed at whoever was inside.  
The stocky city cop said, "The neighbor next door said that he heard a woman screaming that she felt like she was going to die and to go get help. He couldn't find a way to get in here himself."

"Is there more than one person living here?" Roy asked him as he kept on looking for a way into the house. "We're not seeing signs of any smoke."

"Yeah, a girl aged 25." Vince replied."According to the neighbor.  
She lives alone."

Right then, a piercing, wrenching wail of agony jolted through a bush heavily shrouding a veranda window in the backyard facing the clifftop.  
It made Vince instinctively draw out his gun. "It sounds like she's getting attacked." he said plastering to the side of the house. "Be careful fellas.  
I'll cover you."  
"Hey!! FIre Department! We're trying to get to ya!" yelled Johnny as he pushed through the bush to get a better look past the sun shadowed glass. "Keep making noi--!"

The screams cut off abruptly.

"I can't tell which room she's in.." Johnny grunted as he tried once again to futilely open the window. "I can't see anything in here."

"Cap! Nothing's open! Everything's locked down real tight." Chet shouted as he and Marco returned at a jog.

"Then we'll have to break in..." Hank decided. "Intruder or no intruder, Vince.  
That's not something we can just ignore." he said, jerking a thumb at the bush and at the total silence curdling their blood.

"Front door." Vince nodded. "Use your helmet on a side pane." he said at last.

"Thank you.." Roy sighed urgently, stepping quickly back to the small front porch. "Stoker.. grab the resuscitator." he said and he pulled off his helmet and used it like a piston to crack one of the two windows surrounding the front door.

Once the frame was swiped clear of shards with a jacket halligan, he reached around carefully under Vince's watchful eye and gunpoint and tried feeling around where a deadbolt lock would be.

"Fire Department! Hey! Are you ok?!" Gage shouted through the opening. "Got it?"  
he asked.

"No, there's more locks on this door than Fort Knox.." DeSoto said in exasperation.  
"I can't reach them all."

"Then battering it down isn't going to do any good. John, don't even try. You'll wreck your shoulder.." Cap said when Gage looked like he was hunching up. "Stoker. Grab the K-12, will you pal?" he ordered.

Mike Stoker ran to get it.

The firemen and cop were highly disturbed by the lack of response from the woman they now knew was in serious trouble. It reflected in their haste as they split the door and its hinges and drew it away with many gloves.

Vince went inside first. "Let me check it out first." he said, keeping his loaded revolver aimed up at the ceiling with cocked elbows. "Once I sweep a room,  
then you can look for her. Not a moment sooner."

Gage ansed with the defib and drug box on the porch. He still had on his helmet and the strap dangled in his face. "We got it. Just go.." he hurried Vince along with an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

There was no disturbed furniture in the living room. But a tang of rotten food and garbage stung their noses. Room by room, Vince cleared the way for the gang. Then he holstered his weapon. "House's clear. Nobody else is around. Go ahead with your searching. She may be scared and hiding." Then he raised his voice. "Diane Hart! This is the police department. It's ok, you're completely safe. Nobody but me and the fire department are here! Come on out!"

The men paused briefly for a reply from the girl. None came. Cap split them up. "Try the closets, shower and laundry rooms." he suggested. "And the floor. Maybe it's like Vince said, and she just blacked out somewhere in an odd place."

Each firefighter took a room and started opening doors. "Diane?! Los Angeles County Fire Department and Police. It's ok, we're here to help you!"  
Hank yelled.

In one bedroom, Gage slapped Vince on the arm, pointing to the desk top.

A spoon and packet of powder lay in the open by a spent syringe.  
Using his gloved fingers, the cop picked up a corner. "Yep. I see it. Narcotics. All of this is making more sense now. She's probably a junkie on a bad trip.  
This spoon's still warm." he said, touching the scooped metal with the skin on his inner wrist.

"Diane?" Johnny shouted loudly. "Listen to me. We're not gonna hurt you at all. We just wanna talk to you. Look, a neighbor called us because he was real concerned about how you were doing today.. Can you hear me? Where are you?"  
He pulled open a linen closet and stopped short when he saw a shoe with the rest of someone it in, in the row of neatly spaced empty ones beneath the hanging clothes.

"Roy! Hank! In here." Vince shouted.

Gingerly, Gage parted the clothes and spotted a frightened eye peering up at him. "She's awake and sitting on this hamper." And he reached inside to grasp her hand.

Screams and flailing arms and panicked kicks greeted his touch and he leaped back as the whole rack of clothes tumbled down over the struggling girl.

"Easy.. Easy.. Diane.. Cut that out. We're here to help you! Now tell us what's wrong.  
Don't struggle and I'll pull this stuff off of ya. Now I'm a paramedic and this is Vince, a policeman. We're not gonna hurt you, hon. We wanna help ya." Johnny said.

The kicking ceased and the wild eyed girl let the fireman free her face and mouth from the mound of clothes. She was deep in paranoia and unable to talk.

Thinking ahead of time, Gage didn't free her arms and legs right away. He gingerly got out a penlight and showed it shining down onto his own palm as he spoke, moving slowly closer to her. "This is just a light from my pocket. I just wanna check your eyes out. It's ok."

Diane flinched and pulled away, sinking deeper into the tangle of hanging clothes piled around her.

Gage froze in place. "Sorry, Diane. Easy. Listen, I won't touch ya if you don't want me to, I'll just look from here." and he aimed the beam from a foot away,  
at her eyes.

Diane started sobbing, but she never stopped watching Gage's hands warily.

"Grossly miotic, Roy. It's heroin or cocaine for sure." he said over his shoulder.

DeSoto started setting up the biophone and oxygen equipment onto the messy bed.  
"She diaphoretic yet?"

"Yeah." Johnny replied, still not moving. He swept his light a little lower and found signs of many many track marks on both her arms. The freshest still had a needle and plunger sticking out of it. "Roy, she's free basing it."

He fluttered a few fingers in a distracting move in front of Diane's face while his other hand quickly jerked out the syringe buried in her arm. He held it up to the light in a quick check. "Lotsa residue. This is a ten mil. And all of it's gone." He tossed it onto a dresser top so no one could get stuck by it. The familiar sound startled Diane and she suddenly flew up out of the heavy pile of clothing and got past Johnny.

"Diane! No!" Gage shouted. Diane started to fight with what seemed like super human strength when Roy grabbed her. "Get her on the floor where we can control her!"

Vince swept out the girl's legs with one of his own but she didn't go down.

Hart screamed inhumanly and actually tore free from DeSoto's grip. Johnny,  
Stoker and Chet added their weight and pinned her back against the side of the bed with their shoulders. Diane kicked out and her left foot connected with a heavy dresser. The ankle snapped loudly and angulated, broken.

For one hideous moment, Diane froze in their grips, falling silent at the choking jolt shooting from a fresh source of agony. Then she started screaming decibels.

"Grab that leg! Or she'll open it up!" Gage shouted, avoiding her raking fingernails as he and Roy hung onto her wrists to protect themselves. It took Marco laying across her pelvis sideways, to finally drive her onto her back and onto the carpeting.

Vince worked Diane's arms over her chest and held both her wrists in a hand lock and he crossed her elbows slowly over her neck. "I got her. Roy, Johnny. You can let go now."

Roy scrambled clear of the tangle for the biophone,. "Cap. Hold that foot down by her knee. We'll splint it later." he said over her terrified screams and gasps.

Hank sat on top of Diane's knee.

Johnny leaped for the drug box and grabbed out a narcan pack and began setting it up as fast as he could. He passed off the medication to Cap to hold while Roy got a blood pressure cuff on around the gang's tight gripping forms. Diane was beyond reasoning and nothing she uttered was anything resembling coherent words,  
so the gang stopped talking. They just clung tightly, trying to keep Diane's head and limbs protected from her own drug overdosed, crazed struggling.

"Johnny.. Getting a BP of 174 over P. Her pulse is 160 and weak. I'm finding it by apical only." he reported, yelling. "She's now bleeding from the nose and from a deep cut on her sc--"

Diane started vomiting up half chewed sour food and her conscious attempts to kick and hit shuddered into huge, wracking, unconscious convulsions. Her eyes rolled up into her head.

Vince and the others quickly let go of the girl and Chet and Stoker rolled Diane over to get it all out by quickly sweeping her nose and mouth with their gloved fingers.

Cap reached up and dragged the resuscitator over for the suction wand tubing.  
"Here! It's on." he said, handing it over so they could use it.

Diane sagged into motionless unconsciousness as the firemen worked to clear her throat so she could breathe again.

But Diane didn't even try when they were done. Stoker found a lack of a pulse in her neck. "I'm getting no pulse, Johnny. Just stopped."

"Start CPR as soon as you got her airway clear." Gage said quietly grabbing for the defibrillator so he could power it up.

Roy stepped up the pace on his call to the hospital.  
"Rampart Base, how do you read?" He dug out his clothes shears from his hip holster and tapped Marco on the knee with them. Lopez snatched them up and got Diane out of her soaked sweater top and sport bra as fast as he could.

The wool was barely parted out of the way when Kelly began aggressive CPR on her. Stoker took over her blood dampened head and started using the demand valve to give the girl full, active ventilations on 100% pure oxygen.

"I've got good chest rise.." Chet confirmed, when it was time for delivered breaths a fraction of a minute later.

Roy let go of Diane's neck. "And I've been getting a pulse with compressions. Keep them fast and even while I get the ET ready.  
Stoker, don't skimp on her. Get up to a rate around thirty."

"Vince.." Gage said. "Get a good look at the stuff on the table. Is it heroin for sure?"

"Yeah. Fraid so. I pegged it by the smell. How's she doing?"

"She missed a vein and got an artery instead. That's where I found that needle. She literally fried herself. Doesn't look good." Johnny said, gelling up the paddles. "Ok, Chet. I'm set. Wipe her dry with her shirt."

Kelly hastened to get the dripping sweat off of her chest as fast as he could. "Ok.. I'm done."

Johnny laid the two handgrip electrodes on Diane and confirmed the lack of a viable beat scrolling on the screen. "V-fib confirmed." He moved his thumbs to the shock triggers. "Everybody clear?"

Everyone was and Gage pushed the paddles down firmly with the countershock as he pressed the buttons derisively to activate one.

Diane Hart lifted off the floor and jumped.  
Johnny let the defib sensors connect with her skin again afterwards to see what the monitor showed as a response to the shock. "Nothing.. Guys start up on her again while we're waiting for the recharge."

Kelly and Stoker did.

"Roy, stir them up over there sometime soon." he said of the still as yet unanswered radio transmission. "She's not capturing in the slightest. Now shocking times two.." He warned everybody and again Diane's torso jolted upwards under the paddles.

Johnny studied the manual readouts for long moments. "No conversion.  
Still coarse V-Fib."

"I.C. epinephrine?" Stoker asked Gage.

"As soon as we can get it. The doc may order narcan by tube first 'cause we have to cut down on her high before we can use any other stim med on her." he answered.  
DeSoto got through his abbreviated report to Dr. Morton a half minute later "...second time to no effect. Police confirmed heroin use. Self administered arterially. Guessing around ten mils free based. Previously fighting enough to break her left ankle."

Roy could hear Morton letting go a sigh of great sympathy over the phone line.  
## 51, intubate her endotracheally after one more minute of CPR. Give her 0.8 mgs Narcan with a 10cc bolus of ringers lactate with normal saline by ET. Then countershock once again. Give me a strip as soon as possible. I'll order cardiac meds once I see how this works. Use caution if you restore a normal sinus rhythm. She may regain complete consciousness quickly on you and injure herself on the breathing tube by struggling again.##

"10-4. 0.8 milligrams Naloxone ET and countershock with EKG strip.  
Stand by.."

Johnny prepared the narcan bolus by connecting two air evacuated syringe halves together. He held the injector in between his teeth as he applied the heart monitor pads they would need to send Diane's telemetry to Dr. Morton. Hank hooked up the wires while Stoker, Roy and Chet got Diane airway secured and drug antidote treated. "Stop CPR a sec." he ordered his two crewmates when he saw Roy was waiting with a tooth blade guide.

"I've got cords.." DeSoto said using the laryngoscope. He threaded down the thick milk colored airway until he was sure it was in the right place. Then he nodded.

Stoker shot two slow ventilations through the tube while Roy listened carefully with his stethoscope in a couple of places to hear lung sounds. Not yet satisfied, he pulled up on the tube an inch to get rid of some dead sound over the right side of Diane's chest. Breaths soon entered well after that and Gage quickly followed up with the Narcan injection down the tube. Roy listened as it trickled completely into her lungs. "Ok, Mike. Hyperventilate her. Chet, keep going. Give CPR until Johnny's ready to shock her."

Kelly relocated a careful landmark for his gloves and started up again.

Johnny waited until the medication had absorbed. Then he cleared everyone and defibrillated firmly for the third time.

The green indicator shot up on the datascope and wavered for long moments from the broad leaping electrical effect but then the tracer slipped into a horizontal level unremarkably.

"Flatline..." Gage said.

Roy got on the phone. "Flatline post narcan, Rampart. Sending you a strip on lead two.."

Chet Kelly grunted as he worked. "Marco, on fifteen, switch with me. My gloves are getting too slippery on this stuff." he said of the defib gel and the debris that he had wiped from between her lips.

"Ok.." And Lopez knelt over Diane, too. "I'll scrub her off during the next vent cycle and I'll take over."

Mike Morton studied the monitor intently. The cardiac signs looked clearly mortibound. ##51, Give 1 mg. epinephrine I.C. followed up with one amp sodium bicarb by Normal Saline I.V. but only if a venipuncture's successful. Countershock one more time. If we still don't get a recapture, continue CPR. After one minute,  
administer another Narcan to airway bolus of 1 mg, then transport as soon as possible. Don't waste time with that fracture on scene. Immobilize and treat any other trauma she might have sustained from fighting, en route.##

Roy repeated his orders to the doctor.

##10-4, 51. What's the ETA on your ambulance?##

The siren outside slowed and fell away as it died. "They're here right now, Rampart.." replied Roy.

Johnny quickly got out the long needled syringe of epinephrine and prepared it.  
Gage stabbed it home into Diane's left ventricle after calling for a cessation in CPR so he could deliver it safely to her heart without harming himself or anyone else.

Then he defibrillated the girl for the fourth time. Diane jerked but her heart didn't begin beating afterwards.

DeSoto reported in. "No recapture, Rampart."

##I confirm, 51. Switch to an oyxgenated ambu after your second Narcan dose. Get her in here as fast as you can.## Morton said gently. ##We'll see what more we can do once she's in.##

"10-4, doc. I estimate our ETA in nine minutes." Roy sighed.  
Captain Stanley and Chet began packaging up all the medical gear. Kelly had plastic bagged his gloves up and he wore the bundle hanging from a turnout snap out of the way for later cleaning. He handed Stoker one for his soiled pair when Roy final took over Diane's ventilations on a bag valve mask.

The ambulance attendants quickly loaded up Diane, leaving her bare from the waist up for unimpeded continued CPR. Lopez stood on the bottom rail of her gurney to work on her nonstop while they wheeled Diane out to the driveway.

Cap jerked a head at Kelly. "Take the squad in after them." he ordered. "Radio me if they have to make a stop for further care."

"Right, Cap." said Chet.

An ambulance attendant and Gage took over for Roy and Lopez's tasks once they reached the waiting Mayfair.

Stoker and Hank hefted a second O2 tank and regulator from the engine for the paramedics to use for the trip along with the squad gear boxes, and the defibrillator case.

They slapped the back of the rig twice in a signal once they had sealed up the hatch latches of the ambulance doors after Roy and Johnny got settled around Diane.

They returned to the house and began to clean the bedroom free of all the papers and plastic wrappers from the medications that had been used on Diane. They were careful to not disturb much else in the room, knowing that it was now a crime scene.

"Are you going to come with us in case she makes a turn around recovery in transit?" Cap asked Vince. "She may have a few interesting things to say about where she got her dope."

"Nah, I'm going to stick around here for the backup I just called to case out the house. Who knows how much drug money or heroin's lying around." he said. "With that front door in shreds, somebody's got to watch the place until the DEA muscles in."

"Suit yourself. I'll make sure Roy and Johnny make a statement, if she does come to, for you to check out later."

"Appreciate it, Hank."

"Anytime. See ya.." Cap waved wearily. "Come on, Stoker, Lopez. Let's go home."

"I think we watched a woman die on us in there, Mike." Lopez said to Stoker once Cap had left them to go climb back into the Ward.  
They heard him say the station was still unavailable for another hour, until Diane's follow up run was over.

"I think you're right, Marco. She was probably dead the moment she started screaming for help from that bedroom closet." Stoker whispered sadly.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Photo: A K-12 saw on the ground.

Photo: A frightened woman in a dark closet.

Photo: A woman struggling with Roy and Johnny.

Photo: Vince and ambulances attendants loading a woman on a gurney with Cap nearby.

Photo: Roy on the biophone in a bedroom, close- sad.

Photo: Flatline on an EKG monitor.

Photo: Johnny preparing a narcan bolus.

Photo: A closeup of a narcan med bottle.

*  
From: Cassidy Meyers Date: Wed Jun 22, 2005 10:14 pm Subject: Alone..

Al the ambulance attendant heard the slam of the Mayfair's rear doors and immediately, he flipped on the sirens and checked for his clearance before slowly pulling away from the street's curbside. "Is she intubated already?" he asked Roy, who was nearest his peep window. "Just disturbin ya to see if there's a chance we'll need to stop along the way.  
Dispatch wants to know."

DeSoto didn't look up from the compressions Johnny was delivering to the young junkie nor did they stray off the EKG monitor turned to face him in the captain's chair. "She's as set as she's gonna get.  
But try your best to avoid the bumps. This's gonna be a long CPR and we all gotta last until we reach Rampart." he said of Johnny, Al's partner, and himself.

"You got it." said Al. "I'll go a way that's big and easy. Along Santa Monica Boulevard. It'll be faster than the freeway this time of day that's for sure."

And the window snicked shut between them.

Johnny was already drenched in sweat maintaining the rhythm. He grunted, fighting to keep his depth correct despite the jolting the Mayfair's travel was giving him where he stood over the stretcher and the girl's chest.

"Roy, you going again?" asked Flint, the other ambulance attendant. "Morton didn't tell us not to try and zap her back."

"You ......read....between.....the......lines.......pretty......good." gasped Gage.  
"Ever thought of.....joining the para....paramedic.....program? Give her some.  
That's fifteen again." he reminded the bigger man.

Flint bagged Diane twice on the oxygen even as he pulled her lips back to check for any sign of fluid or material working its way back into her mouth.  
"Nah,..don't have the brain for all those medical calculations and I.V. ratios. Guess I'm too old a dog to learn new tricks." said the salty haired man.

DeSoto punched the defib button once again, calling it out himself so Johnny could concentrate on pacing himself and keep on breathing without getting light headed from his exertions. "Charging.. One, two, three, four... Clear?"

Gage sat back onto the cushioned bench, keeping his hands well away from the gurney frame. "We're clear."

Roy shocked full charge, making it the fifth of the run. Flint began rebagging while they waited for the outcome on the screen. The lit needle danced high and settled into course V-Fib.

"Well, that's an improvement.." Gage said, resuming CPR. "Least her heart's getting irritable again." he said breathing hard. "Flint, take over..I'll trade with ya. Roy's gotta stay free to try and get in an I.V. line on her somewhere." He shifted places and Flint swept Gage's hands away and set his down without missing a beat.

Johnny was sopping wet and he turned the air on in the ambulance full blast until it blew on all three of them. "Found any veins yet, Roy? The epinephrine's done all that it's gonna do until we get her blood neutralized a little better."

DeSoto spoke from around a needle cover set in his teeth. "Yeah, goin' for a jugular stick. Seems she's been too chicken to shoot up there. Just about everywhere else has been scarred too badly to use."

Carefully, Johnny turned the young woman's face away from Roy's knee until the side of her throat was exposed at the proper angle without jeopardizing the endotracheal airway's alignment any. He bagged unconsciously with his left hand, while his right wiped off his face on a sleeve. Gage checked the positioning of the broken ankle. It had fallen off the bed on loading. He shifted it back into place by grabbing some pant leg as a sling and he flipped it up until it lay alongside the other foot.

Roy called for Flint to halt his compressions while he attempted the deep neck vein that was still flat from lack of circulation. His long years of experience paid off and rewarded him with a feeble flashback. "Ok, got it." he said, planting two fingers over the catheter as he withdrew the needle. He let the blood run out freely until he was able to snap the normal saline I.V. line into its hub and tape it off tightly. He used a soft cervical collar to safeguard the site and a second one underneath her shoulders to keep Diane's head tilted back enough to not kink the tube in her jugular vein. "Bicarb's going in.." he announced. "Johnny, how long since her last Narcan dose?"

"Two minutes, twenty seconds."

"I got her next one right here." he said, He bit the cover on its fluid needle off.  
And then he handed it over to Gage, from its niche in a fold of her bloody pillow where he had placed it earlier. "ET'll be faster still. I'll check to see if she's aspirated any after this is in."

Flint pinwheeled at a sharp turn and caught himself on the wall to avoid injuring Diane.  
"Whoa! Take it easy up there, Al! I almost broke a few ribs here.." he snarled.

"Sorry, something's holding up traffic. I had ta slam on the brakes big time."  
came his partner Al's muffled reply from the front.

Flint shook his head in frustration and quickly started up compressions again,  
stamping his foot on the floor to rid himself of a cramp twisted up his back.

Gage noticed, "Wanna trade off?"

"No, you're still giving out them meds. I'll call it when she's been defibbed twice more." said the older man.

"We could be at the hospital by then.." reasoned Roy.

"Fine by me. I'm still fresh. This girl's only our first call of the day, so use me to your best advantage fellas, while you can." Flint said levelly. Despite of his best care, another dip in the road made his finger laced hands slip downward too deep and a rib snapped audibly along Diane's breastbone. "Sorry, hon." he said automatically, without looking up. "Damn streets. You'd think the city would remember us ambulance people come legislation day and budget in even more than the usual meager repair funds. They don't realize how much pain we cause folks by running over the bad spots. There adds at least two more days in the hospital for you, dear thing. I am trying to be careful." he told his patient.

Gage and Roy didn't pay any attention to Flint's venting. They were deep in lung assessments and listening to the biophone for more orders.

"Rampart, bicarb's in. Still no vital signs. Request permission for atropine."  
Roy asked.

Morton countered immediately. ##Go ahead, 51. One milligram IVP every three to five minutes to a total of .04 mgs per cubic kilogram. Give her another countershock afterwards. That narcan loading should start to do something for you real soon if it hasn't already. Our success of defibrillation's gonna decrease dramatically with the passage of time if she continues her ischemic slide downwards. The progressive imbalance in her myocardial oxygen supply and demand will kill her in less than ten minutes if we don't see some positive progress soon. I want to see a live rate in two, 51. You've got nothing better to do now since you've already countered all the heroin in her blood. Pick it up, boys. Use 0.5 milligrams epi this time I.V. along with the atropine or we're gonna lose her before you hit the freeway.##

"10-4, Rampart. 1.0 mg atropine piggybacked with 0.5 mg epi, both IVP." Roy said quickly. He was just as determined as the audibly frustrated Morton to save the young woman. He couldn't push a thought away from the back of his mind.  
::What if it was the pile of clothes falling on her that pushed the heroin plunger down too deep and not Diane herself? Then all of this mess is actually accidental and not the usual desperate druggie's attempted suicide, if that's the case.  
She'll fight hard to come back even if we give her just one more chance to make it.::

The Mayfair was only crawling now, at less than twenty miles an hour.

Gage snapped. "What's the hold up?!" he shouted to the front.

Al said, "Traffic jam. The ramp's a parking lot, Johnny. I don't know why the cars are like this. Dispatch said there's nothing going on up ahead."

Flint frowned and a drop of sweat rolled off his nose and landed on the back of his hands. "That's strange." he said, keeping up his CPR until the paramedics were set to defibrillate Diane again. "It's nowhere near rush hour."

Roy looked up out of the window from where he sat timing the wide open drops when he saw the road sign that bore his namesake flash by. Only it wasn't the comforting inside joke it normally was for all of them seeing the avenue bearing his last name. For the mountains behind it,  
were gone.

"Holy---" DeSoto exclaimed, almost dropping the paddles he was re-gelling.

"Roy? What's wrong? Go ahead and get her again. It's charged to four."  
Gage said sharply. "Keep it together. Take care of her, and then tell me."

Roy framed the sticky paddles once more, and fired them off.

Diane frighteningly re-animated as soon as her heart started pulsing again following Roy's shock, and she continued where she had left off, falling right back into the superhuman mode that had so scared all of them in the house. Her violent gyrations to fight and spit out her airway, threatened the very gurney straps that held her down onto the bed.

DeSoto shouted as both Flint and he threw themselves on top of Diane to pin her down. She choked and air popped loudly around the endotrach tube in her throat, as there was no possible way for her to talk being tubed as she was. "Pull over!" Roy ordered.

Al did so.

Gage drew out his HT to Chet. "Chet! She's fighting! Get in here!"

But the rear doors didn't snatch open like Johnny wanted them to.

There was a long pause of dead air over the walkie talkie.  
Then came Kelly's voice. ##Oh mother of g*d. Johnny! Roy! The whole mountain's come down up ahead in La Conchita! The whole friggin'  
hillside!##

"Roy, what's he talking about? Diane! Diane!! If you can hear me, don't pull out this tube! It'll damage your voice box! We'll numb ya up just hang on a second. Diane? Do you understand me?" said Johnny.

Diane went on struggling, oblivious to her surroundings. And her eyes never tracked nor focused on anybody's face.

"Brain damage?" Flint asked as he got her arms back down at her sides.  
To calm her, he covered her completely with a light sheet up to the neck.  
"It's ok, it's all right. We're taking ya to the hospital to get that junk outta your system, hon."

Diane's severe agitation didn't ease in the slightest. In fact, it was growing worse. The three men soon found that they weren't able to hold her at all.

Until Kelly finally got the urgency of Johnny's message about their patient and tugged the Mayfair's doors open. Swiftly, he used his turnout jacket as an improvised reverse straight jacket and used its snaps to cocoon Diane's writhing body under the railings by fastening each fastener around the bars like a world war II canvas stretcher.

Johnny was freed up to hold Diane's head firmly around the C-collar Roy had applied earlier to protect the girl's I.V. "Who gave you that idea?  
It's working, Chet! Roy.."

"Yeah, I know.. Get her sedation order.." DeSoto gasped, sweeping sweat soaked hair out of his eyes.

Morton beat him to the punch. ##51, I'm getting no cardiac signal anymore from your end. I'm gonna guess that she's now combative. Treat her agitation with chlorpromazine, 25 mg I.V.##

Before the paramedics could move, Diane jerked her hands up and yanked,  
with both sets of fingers, at her loosely taped mouth piece. A flood of bright blood fountained up as her unthinking reaction caused the inflated balloon at the base of the endotracheal tube to tear away the soft structures on the inside of her throat. Hart gagged and vomited weakly as her pressure suddenly plummeted and her eyes rolled up to their white undersides.

The heartbeat still registering on the monitor slowed from its racing tach into a vagal reflex brady rate of thirty. Diane went limp.

Kelly yelled in fear and fluttered to unhook his jacket from around the girl as the others rolled her sideways to drain out the gushing flood of fresh blood.

Roy listened to Diane's chest with a fast ear. "The tube's completely obstructed! Get it out!"

Gage rapidly deflated the ET and drew it free to suction out Diane's blood filled windpipe."D*mmit! She must be a long time user. It took only the three Narcan doses to put her into waking withdrawal. She ripped herself up even before we could even think of sedating her.:" he said angrily. "Flint?"

"She's not breathing anymore." the attendant reported from where he rested Diane's stomach across his chest where he knelt, using his body to keep her tipped onto her side.

Gage got out an antibite ring to hold Diane's teeth apart, then he used just the ambu to drive some badly needed oxygen back into her lungs without moving her position. But soon, Diane began to gurgle from all the blood that was bleeding out of her ruined throat and it flowed too rapidly for the suction wand to pull away despite of Roy and Johnny's best efforts to clear it.

The heartbeat on the monitor started speeding up into rapid v-tach as profound shock set in. Gage dug a hand into her carotid. "Pulseless ventricular rhythm. Flint, let her go. We gotta--"

"I heard. I'm on it yesterday.." the attendant sighed sadly and he resumed active CPR once more over the girl's bruised breastbone.

"I was afraid of this kind of thing happening. She must've taken the entire mixed ten mg's I thought I saw her take." said Johnny. "Now, she's bleeding to death for her troubles."

Roy replugged in the EKG monitor feed that had been disconnected from the biophone in all the struggling. He handed Johnny a short oropharyngeal airway for him to insert once he felt he could stop suctioning Diane in between bagged breaths. "Dr. Morton. Our victim went into acute withdrawal syndrome up to consciousness. But we've lost her airway. Damage is severe. I am estimating around six hundred cc's blood loss. Now ceased due to a return to an acute cardiac arrested condition. We're reading a pulseless ventricular tachycardia. "

## I confirm, 51. Continue the best you can. Stop all medications and maintain the patient's circulation and breathing manually. I'll see you in a few minutes.##

Roy and Johnny felt their world suddenly contract around them.

"Uh,, negative, Rampart. There's been a massive landslide a few blocks away from what we can see. All routes leading to you are most likely blocked off."  
Roy reported.

There was a dead silence from the other end of the phone line. "51, re-route to another hospital then. Who's closest from your current position?"

"Rampart, we're in a gridlock. There's too many panicking people out here."  
said DeSoto as he peered out the side window of the ambulance. "I don't think we'll be able to go anywhere fast, anytime soon, doc."

A fierce pounding startled him when a hand slapped his window and drew open the door at the back. It was a bystander, from one of the many blocked in automobiles now surrounding them. "Hey, guys! There's a lot of hurt people just ahead. A mudflow's covering the road. We're clearing a path for ya!" said the construction worker. "Come on!"

"Look, mister! We can't." Johnny started to say. "We already got a p--"

But the man had already swung the doors shut in their faces. They saw him waving animatedly through the back windows for them to follow behind him as he ran towards the wall of gray dust rising above them.

The Mayfair was shoved sideways from an unexpected jolt from the left.  
A giant fist of earth and rock rolled over them.

It soon blocked out the sun, plunging the Mayfair and its suddenly overwhelming CPR plight, into semi-darkness.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Photo: A cloud of dust over a DeSoto Ave sign over the freeway.

Photo: Al the ambulance driver, looking back in fear.

Photo: Roy falling inside an ambulance away from an intubated patient.

Photo: Johnny ventilating a victim receiving CPR in a rig.

Photo: A mountain landslide in La Conchita, eating a road.

Photo: That same slide, swallowing roads from the hilltop.

*  
From: "Roxy Dee" Date: Thu Jun 23, 2005 10:22 am Subject: It's Not Nice To Mess With Mother Nature~~

Al began shouting, "Everybody out! This is a rock fall! Not mud! Grab what you can!" cried the ambulance driver and he rushed to the back of the Mayfair.

Chet Kelly paused only for a moment at the sight of huge boulders rolling down the coastal road from the mountain. Any one of them could've crushed a bus without stopping. He ran for the squad to move it closer. "Get her on! Then climb aboard."  
he shouted. "We're getting outta here!"

Johnny and Roy grabbed the squad gear, throwing tanks and cases on top of Diane's gurney in between her strapped legs. Flint hesitated. "What's he talking about?" as he kept up CPR.

"We're evacuating before the next wave of debris hits us. Something else's giving way on that hillside out there!" Gage coughed. He snatched a spare french 6.0 from the supply rack and jammed it under Diane's pillow for later reinsertion for her new airway. He hefted up the engine's oxygen supply and they got out of there.

The five of them got Diane lifted onto the top of the squad, stretcher and all,  
that nestled into the air bottle gap storage firmly. Chet fled in the squad then, carrying them, using the route the excited witness that told them about. Behind them in the mirrors, he saw the Mayfair get swept off the road by a twenty ton boulder that tumbled down noisily from the nearby slide a few seconds after they had started moving.

Soon, Chet parked on a section of ground he knew was stable. "There's no pistol butt trees here. See? None of these trees are warping yet.  
I'm stopping!" he shouted to those clinging on top of the squad.

Diane was lifted from the squad in between CPR sets, and the entire group headed for a grassy slope that was undisturbed by substrate shifting. They placed her, head side downhill, while they worked to keep her going, so her lungs would drain out even more.

Roy stood long enough to get his bearings and call for their nearest help over his HT. "Squad 51 to Engine 51! Do you read me?" His mind was still reeling with disbelief at the moving chaos flowing around their island of calm earth.

##This is Captain Stanley, HT 51. What's your situation?##

"Mudslide in La Conchita has destroyed our ambulance. We've no injuries.  
We need backup CPR assistance. Other casualties are being reported in our immediate area. Uh,..From what I can see, your best approach will be from the beach access road until you reach the edge of town. We're on the south side near the water tower, with the squad." he said to ease Cap's worries about another vehicle loss. "This slide's huge. I see at least, a dozen homes disintegrating."

##10-4, Squad 51. We've just received word from L.A. about La Conchita. Hang tight, pal. We're on the way.## said Hank.

Chet smiled when he heard the airhorn blast briefly over the channel. "Remind me to hug Stoker when all this is over, Roy."

"You're gonna haveta get in line, Chet, after us.." said Gage. "Flint, need a switch out yet?" he said giving Diane another easy breath on the ambu.

"I'm good for a while yet." the man said. "Now what? You've lost your antennae link when the Mayfair disappeared. That biophone won't work very well in this low spot of ours."

Roy checked over the defibrillator to read its power level for if and when they decided to try and use it again on Diane. "We'll improvise." he said, without smiling.  
"Joe Early has been preparing us for just this kind of communication isolating circumstances." he said, rechecking the flow of I.V. fluid to Diane. He rehooked up the EKG pads that had fallen off in the commotion. "We've recently been given broader decision making powers with a new brainstorm project of Dr. Brackett's."

"What kind of brainstorming?" asked Chet, using the suction wand to help Johnny work his vents a little better.

"We've new procedures being put into place. They're called standing orders. They're doctor's instructions given out in advance to fit specific medical findings in any given situation so we won't always be tied to the phone for confirmations and permissions. Johnny and I were going to drill on them this afternoon with Dr. Early to make sure we had them committed to memory all right. Now we're here."  
Roy explained.

"So we don't need the biophone any more?" Al asked, taking off Diane's sock to begin splinting the broken foot as best he could with a piece of wood he had found.

"Not now. It's dead. We need just additional help to care for anyone ELSE we find in trouble. We got our engine coming. And she's just three minutes or so behind us." Gage nodded.

"How can you tell that? I didn't hear you get a time estimation.." frowned Al.

"The airhorn blew three times over the transmission. It's Stoker's way to tell us an ETA when somebody else's talking over the HT. Something we set up a while ago." Kelly smiled.

Kelly knelt down by Diane's side. "Johnny. What do you want me to do? I got the O2 tank ya got out with ya cracked and set on wait. But that's the last suction reservoir. Sorry. Didn't think we'd need more than the one on her."

"Be Flint's trade when he says he's tired. Roy and I have to work out something."  
Gage replied, nodding.

Kelly nodded and got busy.

Johnny watched Roy drag the drugbox closer to their knees. He squeezed the ambu bag a little faster without realizing it. "Roy, you're not doing it."

"Doing what? I'm just getting out another roll of gauze for when we reintubate her."  
DeSoto said. But his fingers brushed over a bretylium syringe briefly.

"We can't use any more medication on her. Morton's live order supercedes any of Brackett's standing ones." Gage reasoned. "I think....." he frowned.

Roy glared at his partner. "You of all people should know me, I'm like Craig Brice, I usually follow the book to the letter, only second best to him. But consider where we are, Johnny. If we find even one unconscious breathing victim from the slide,  
we'll have to abandon Diane here in favor of their better chances for survival. We're on triage ground now."

Gage blanched at that, glancing down at Diane's still beautiful face. "I know that.  
I thought we'd have more time to--"

"I know. I thought that, too. But look at the monitor, Johnny. She's asystole again.  
And with pulmonary artifact this time from all the blood in her lungs. She's so full of rales I'd be surprised if any oxygen is reaching her at all anymore. Her pupils are blown and unresponsive. Even in this sunlight. We have to make a decision about her and hope that Dr. Brackett's experimental protocol is concrete enough to save our butts afterwards. Before we are officially locked down by fire department triage orders. Now are you with me or not?" DeSoto said, licking his lips. "Make a choice now 'cause I see a whole lot of people coming our way and some of those being carried,  
aren't moving at all."

Gage looked up, startled. And saw that it was true. Patients were coming to them from the disaster site, zeroing in on the only help they could see, the red flashing squad.  
"Bretylium, ok, drawing up 5 cc's for IVP. Roy, she IS dead already but we've three other witnesses attesting to the second flatline and we've the paper strip as our bargaining chip to go ahead with another attempt. Let's do it.. If we're gonna get fired and jailed, I can think of no better cell mate to have, than you. Chet! Hit the defib recharge, we're trying again!"

"Ok, Johnny. I'll re-gel the paddles for ya." Chet replied.

DeSoto prepared the D5W I.V. that they would need and he tried very hard to stop his hands from shaking.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cap Stanley and Marco and Stoker raced the Ward up from the beachhead along the same street where they could see the red dot of Squad 51 in the distance. She was parked hastily angled on the only road not jumbled forty feet high with debris.

She came trailing hose for the hydrants that were sticking out of the ground abundantly all aroundJohnny, Roy and the others. Hank stepped out of the cab to give Battalion the short and thorough of what he was seeing in the neighborhood. "Battalion One. Engine 51 is on scene. I'm estimating a slide a quarter of a mile wide. It has spilled over a row of houses half a block long. No fire is in evidence but we're setting up in anticipation of gas leaks. We're 10-6 with 51's casualties on the corner of...... Topanga Canyon Drive and Rocky Peak Road."

##10-4, Engine 51. Sending a helicopter evac to your location as soon as one's available.  
Keep me posted.##

Cap Stanley knelt down by his paramedics where they were working over Diane.  
"Is the squad damaged much? She's awfully dusty."

"No.." replied Chet. "But that Mayfair may be leaking some. We watched it get carried off the road twenty five yards that way by a river of mud." Kelly said jerking his head so he could keep going on his CPR.

"That won't be a problem for now. Being buried means no air will be around to ignite anything. I'm satisfied. What do you need here?" He saw that the paddles had been used twice more on the strip growing by the foot off the monitor. But the indicator still showed no signs of electrical activity.

At his question, Roy and Johnny's body language, fell subtly. "A tarp to cover her."  
said Roy quietly.

"What?!" said Chet. "You guys just can't quit on her like this.. Don't you need a doctor's order to pronounce somebody?" he hissed, still working hard to keep on circulating Diane's blood.

Gage ignored him. "Cap, Roy and I have another victim right there." he said, pointing to a pale boy looking like a cardiac case stretched on the ground on the other side of Diane's stretcher. He was breathing but the manual read from the paddles showed him to be throwing off what even Cap recognized as multiple PVC's.

Cap was no nonsense. "Are you absolutely sure of this, you two?" His unspoken statement questioning the basis for their rational hung silent on the dusty air.

Johnny was grateful that he didn't ask anything sensitive out loud. He knew Cap knew about the experimental protocols newly put into place by Brackett as he had been the one to field the phone call from Joe Early asking for a date to set for testing Roy and Johnny out on them. "Yeah. We've done all that we can do for her. She's max'd out on limits for all the drugs we're allowed to give anyone in her situation. He comes first now." Roy said, not looking at Hank directly.

Kelly started protesting. "Captain, no! That's stupid! I'm not needed yet. And neither are these two.." he said of Al and Flint. "Let us work her until we can't anymore. We owe Diane at least that much more. I'm sure her family would appreciate it in the long run.." he glared at Roy and Johnny. "Who knows? She may come back again."

Cap sighed in exasperation. "Kelly! I can't let y--- " But then he saw the fresh haunted look of weighty stress dragging down his two paramedics, and he relented. "..ok, but the three of ya are through the second another unconscious makes it over here. I'm sorry but she's gonna have to be lifted off of that gurney so they can change the sheets and get it set for the little boy. A triage station's setting up down the block and we're gonna need the stretcher to get him there. I'm saving all our stokes for future victims we may have to dig outta this mess later on." he pointed out sharply. "You got that tank of O2 only, and that's it, Kelly."

"Enough for me, Cap. We'll be under that tree and my HT will be on." he promised.

Diane's head was stretched out on the soft earth for only a couple of moments when Chet jerked his hands off of her chest and started screaming. Flint and Al likewise leaped up and began peeling their clothes off rapidly. "AhHHH! Sh**t!"

Hank ran to them. "What's wrong?!"

Chet writhed on the ground, rolling. "Fire ants. Aww, man.. Get em off! Get em off!  
AhhhhHHH! I'm burning from their stings or something!"

Cap dragged Chet clear of the large pile of dirt that Diane had been inadvertantly set upon and he immediately called for a fire hose to spray the three men down to get rid of the attacking ants as fast as possible. From his new angle he could see the warning shape of an ant nest that hadn't been clearly obvious until just then. He was horrified anew right along with Chet. "I'm sorry, pal. Stay still. We'll get em off in a minute. Looks like your turnout kept most of them off. Marco's washing down the ambulance attendants. No. Don't move until I'm done getting you soaked down. Don't worry about them. Let me get you taken care of first. Marco's covering them. Hold still now. Any get under your clothes?"

Chet sputtered under the water stream. "No...they just got my hands and arms and a few crawled into my hair. Sh*t these hurt like the son of a mother. Ugh! Cap, as soon as I'm done we can get back there an--" he broke off, seeing the thick carpet of red feathery ants now swarming over and stinging the body of Diane Hart. His horror shattered into nausea and he looked away. "Oh, my G*d. Cap..." he sobbed.

"Come away, pal. There's nothing else we can do. If we spray around, getting her off that mound, that whole colony will come out and attack all of us, including them..." he said pointing to where Roy and Johnny were working hard to save their second victim.  
"And we can't allow that. I'm sorry it had to happen like this. Believe me, no one's more sorry than I am right now."

"Cap, isn't she more important? We had her first.."

"Shh.. pay attention to me. Don't look at Diane. Stoker's covering her up. We're through. Now refresh my memory.. Are you allergic to bee stings? Fire ants are in the bee family if I remember my first aid training right." Cap said. His eyes swept over the many raised white pustules coming out thickly on Chet's hands and arms and at the red flushed color rising around them.

"Uh,,, I .. d-- I can't think straight right now." Chet gasped, still hunched in a ball of pain.  
"I think they're still trying to bite me!"

"I got em all off. Let's just get you to a dry spot." ::And away from Diane Hart's body.::

Cap led him away from the puddle of water which was drowning the ants that had been washed off Kelly's skin. Kelly let himself be supported and sat back down as soon as he hit the curbside. His legs wouldn't allow him to stand for any longer.

"Chet, you're shivering. Take my jacket." Hank said peeling his off and giving it to him. "I'll have Johnny or Roy come over and give you a once over on vitals as soon as that cardiac's stabilized. You sure you can breathe ok? Is your throat getting tight any?"

Chet's was, but not from any ant venom. It was from soul pain, and that, he knew, would remain with him, for many many days. He answered Cap by coughing wetly and with a small wheeze. He started crying and gasping uncontrollably, in his grief.

"Easy, Chet. Just relax. I'll have someone over here for you just as soon as I can.  
Marco! How are they?" he shouted, asking about the ambulance attendants, who were down to their boxers and t-shirts, standing soaked underneath wrapped blankets.

"They're fine. Shaken, but they're not stung as bad as Chet. They're refusing to see anyone for further care. They only got a couple of stings each." Lopez replied.

"Understood." Hank counted a quick pulse in Chet's neck as he sat next to him. Kelly didn't even seem to notice his touch. " Marco. Come stay with Chet for a while and keep him company." Cap ordered."I have to get going on the landslide."

"Right, Cap."

As Marco went by, Hank grabbed his arm. "He's busted up over losing the drug victim.  
He got symptoms but I don't think he's anaphylactic. But go get the O2 if you feel he's getting shocky past this mild stuff. Keep tabs on his consciousness level."

Lopez gave a look of sympathy for the dead woman and he crossed himself and said a fervent prayer for her. "I will, Cap. I won't let him stay sick like that without treatment."

Marco went to be a friend for his shattered co-worker for a few minutes and before he knew it, something else called him away.

Photo: Boulder rolled onto the road.

Photo: A fireant mound.

Photo: Stung hands.

Photo: Fire ant sting whealed arms.

Photo: Chet falling in pain in turnout and helmet.

Photo: Roy getting out of an ambulance in a hurry.

Photo: Cap peering at something in brush turnout.

Photo: Roy and Johnny treating a kid on a hillside.

*  
From: "Derrick" rescueman1962... Date: Fri Jun 24, 2005 1:24 am Subject: In Certain Terms : It's Not Nice To Mess With Mother Nature .

" Marco , Marco ! " Gage yelled .

The boy had slipped into v-fib as Johnny and Roy were working on him and they needed and extra hand to help with ventilations as Johnny and Roy started CPR and defibrillation .

::Oh God now what ? Not the boy !:: Marco thought to himself before he went up the hill to help care for the boy who was now slipping away from Johnny and Roy's hands .

" Waddya need ?! " Marco shouted back .

" Get up here . Take control of his airway. He's in v-fib ! " shouted Gage .

" All right . " Marco shouted ." Stay right there, Chet , I'll be right back . " Marco said to his pal .

" Just get back here . " replied Chet .

" Cap! Gage and DeSoto need my help with the boy. He's getting worse . " Marco said to Captain Stanley as he passed by him on his way to help Johnny and Roy .

" All right. Go . I will keep an eye on Chet when I can." Hank replied .

Marco charged up the hill and took over ventilations from Roy . Roy went to use his HT and he called into Dr. Brackett through L.A.'s frequency in an emergency patch.

Roy : "Rampart base , County 51" .

Dr . Brackett : ##Go ahead, 51 , this is Rampart .##

Roy : " Patient update , 10 year old male in respiratory distress due to an asthma attack . We have placed him on high flow O2 at 15 liters per pediatric non-rebreather mask and have given him 1:1,000 epinephrine SQ . As we were attempting I.V . D5/W , patient went into v-fib . We do have CPR in progress and we're attempting to defibrillate at 60 joules . We will be preparing to intubate . Any further instructions ? "

Dr . Brackett : ##51 , go ahead and intubate and continue resuscitative efforts . Administer 3ccs 1: 10,000 Epinephrine I.V. If he does not respond from the three initial shocks . Go ahead and administer 60mgs 2% Lidocaine I.V. Defibrillate 30 to 60 seconds after each dose . Contact us if anything changes . ##

Roy : "Copy Rampart , intubate and continue CPR followed by 3ccs 1:10,000 epi I.V. If unresponsive, give 60mgs 2% Lidocaine I.V. and keep you posted . "

Dr . Brackett : ##10-4 , 51. ##

" Okay , charging 20 , 40 , 60 , CLEAR ! " Roy said .

The defibrillator delivers a shock to the boy's heart as his small body jerks from the jolt of energy . Marco Lopez checks for a carotid pulse and tells the two paramedics , " No breathing , no pulse , continue CPR ."

Johnny starts compressions again as Marco ventilates with the ambu bag . He notices the oropharyngeal airway in place as Roy hurriedly assembles the equipment necessary to facilitate intubation . He orders Marco to start hyperventilating the patient as he prepares and lubricates an endotrachial tube . Marco removes the oropharyngeal airway as Roy inserts a laryngoscope blade to visualize the vocal cords but he sees a very serious problem .

"Oh sh*t." , exclaimed Roy . Marco and Johnny quickly glance up at Roy, not stopping their work as he continues , " His trachea is swelling shut and we may have to trach him . I bet he has pulmonary edema as well . "

" Well , ..we are not gonna lose this boy ! " . Johnny said as he signaled to switch places with Marco .

Roy gets back on the biophone/HT patch with Rampart to advise them of their new findings .

Roy : " Rampart , County 51.."

This time Dr . Joe Early answers the call on the second base station console as he had just completed a difficult cardiac case with Squad 14 .

Dr . Early : ## Go ahead, 51 .##

Roy : " Rampart , we have attempted to intubate and cannot due to tracheal edema . We are suspecting a development of possible pulmonary edema as well . We have defibrillated once with no conversion and have an I.V. D5/W established . We have not given any meds yet . "

Dr . Early : ## 51 , give 60 mgs Solu-Medrol I.V. and keep us advised of any changes . Continue orders from Dr. Brackett. ##

Roy : " Copy. 60mgs Solu-Medrol and keep you advised " .

Dr. Early : ##10-4 , 51 ## .

Johnny and Marco continue CPR on the boy as Roy prepares to administer the drug . He shoots it up the I.V. line and hopes that the swelling will subside soon so they will not have to end up having to do a trach .

Roy decides to defibrillate again after two minutes have went by since the last shock . Roy says, " Charging , 20, 40, 60,80 , 100,  
120 , CLEAR ! "

Marco and Johnny get clear of the patient as another shock is delivered to attempt to convert the life-threatening arrythmia .

All of the sudden, Captain Stanley calls to Johnny and Roy on their HT,  
that two more squads have arrived with three engines as help in their area . ##Squad 51 , HT 51.##

" Squad 51 " . Johnny replied .

##We have more help arriving here, shortly . It will be Squads 36 and 45 , Engines 127 , 236 , and 18 . ETA... about 5 minutes . ##

"Squad 51 , 10-4. " Gage replied . " Still no ambulances, Cap ?"

##Negative.## Captain Stanley replied . ##No helicopters either.##

"No breathing , no pulse , continue CPR . " Marco replied .

Roy pushed the button to charge the defibrillator again and again said " Charging 20 , 40 , 60 , 80 , 100 , 120 , CLEAR ! "

Marco and Johnny backed off as another shock was delivered . There was still no breathing or pulse from the boy , but the guys were determined not to give up this time , not after all they had went through with Diane .

Johnny and Marco started another round of CPR while Roy got the first dose of epinephrine ready to administer . As that was occurring , Flint and Al met up with them on the hill and Flint spoke , " We may have got bitten by fire ants , but at least we can give you a hand."

"Great , you and Al take over CPR so Johnny and I can get to work on this kid." Roy said as he administered the epinephrine up the I.V.  
line . " Marco , go back and check up on Chet."

" Gotcha . " replied Marco . " I sure hope that this boy will make it , and Chet will, too! See ya . "

Roy and Johnny were so concentrated on their patient, that they completely ignored Marco's departure . Another shock was delivered to the boy's heart at 120 joules per second and still no response was noted . The swelling in the boy's trachea had decreased enough so Roy could successfully intubate the patient . They had administered the lidocaine I.V., when just seconds after the next shock was delivered , the monitor blipped .

Gage : " Roy , we have activity on the monitor ! "

Roy : " Okay , hold it a second ."  
The rate and wave strength increased on the monitor as the boy's color began to improve from deep cyanosis to a pale pink . He then tried to show signs of purposeful movement as his eyelids fluttered and hands trembled lightly . Gage noticed the boy's movements and said . " Roy , he's trying to wake up . He just fluttered his eyelids and his hands are moving a little ! "

As Al was ventilating , he stopped to check for a pulse . " I have a pulse, guys , about 76 and increasing in strength . I think he's trying to breathe on his own ! "

" Respirations 10 and labored. " Flint said .

" Don't stop. Let's keep going and I'll get Rampart . " Roy replied .

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Photos : None.

*  
From : Derrick Sent : Wednesday, June 29, 2005 4:50 AM Subject : The Recovery Effort " What is the BP Al " ? Roy said as he grabbed the biophone handle with his gloved hand .

" 70 over 40 " . Al replied back .

" 70 over 40 ? " asked Roy .

" Correct . " Al nodded .

Roy then speaks into the biophone's transmitter . "Rampart base , County 51."

There was no answer for a few seconds and then Dr. Mike Morton, attired in surgical scrubs, responds. ##Unit calling Rampart, identify.##

" Rampart , this is County 51 . We have another update on our patient . He is now exhibiting motor response by fluttering his eyelids and making purposeful movements with both hands . We now have vitals to follow . BP is 70/40. We have a pulse of 70 and slightly weak and thready , respirations are 10 and labored . He is now exhibiting sinus bradycardia on the monitor at 70 , oxygen saturation is now at 80% . Any other orders at this time ? "

Dr . Morton : ##51, give another dose of 1:10,000 epinephrine I.V . at 30ccs followed by 60mgs Solu-Medrol I.V. Let us know if anything changes . ##

Roy Desoto : " Copy, Rampart. Repeat epinephrine and Solu-Medrol and keep you advised of any changes . "

Dr . Morton : ##10-4, 51.##

Roy gets the medications out of the drug box and prepares to administer them while Gage does a sternal rub on the boy to try to ellicit another motor response from him .

" Hey kid.. Kid! Can you hear me? Wake up ! "

Mayfair ambulance attendant Flint is still ventilating the boy through the endotracheal tube and monitors his color which is still a pale pink . His partner Al, continues to monitor his vital signs and motor response.

Johnny sees the boy trying to open his eyes again .

His hands are now making more purposeful movement as his fingers make a clawing like figure then extend slowly out to their normal position .

" Roy ! " Johnny exclaimed . " The boy moved again ! "

Roy had just administered the dose of epinephrine and was about to administer the second dose of Solu-Medrol up the I.V . line when he said , " Johnny, is the motor response the same or different than the last time?"

" He moved his fingers as if he was clawing at something then straightened them back out." Johnny replied .

" Okay , Soul-Medrol is in. Let me try." Said Roy as he now knelt down beside the boy and gave another sternal rub . " Hey kid , kid ! Can you hear me ? Can you feel this ? Wake up ! " DeSoto shouted.

The boy's eyelids then flickered and his fingers went into a clawtype position and straightened out again . Roy tried rubbing the boy's sternum again , " Hey kid , kid ! If you can hear me, move your fingers again ! "

" Hey guys , vitals picking up." Al said .

" Give 'em to us " . Johnny replied .

Al felt for another carotid pulse and he said " Pulse 86 and regular. Stand by for BP " .

Flint, who had been ventilating the patient, had observed the boy's facial color change to a slightly deeper pink then earlier before, and he said. " Come on little boy , breathe ! "

Not soon enough , the boy's chest rose and he made a gasping sound and he jerked to life .

" Hey hey ..Take it easy...We are here to help you ." Johnny said .

" Al , Johnny , Flint , let's roll him over to his side . I'll get the suction and O2 ready . Johnny , get Rampart . What's his BP ? "  
Roy asked.

Al said. "105/70. Pulse.. 86 and regular . He's sure looking good ! " " Okay , are we in position ? Lets roll him 1,2,3 . " Roy said as he got to the head of the patient as the two attendants and Johnny gently rolled the boy onto his side .

Johnny heads over to the biophone as Flint disconnects the oxygen supply tubing from the Ambu Bag and attaches a pediatric non-rebreather mask that was capable of delivering 90 to 100 percent oxygen . In the meantime, Roy turns on the portable suction machine and tells the boy . " I want you to stay as still as possible . I am going to remove a tube that is inside of your windpipe that was put there to help you breathe . I need you to take a deep breath for me , okay ? "

The boy tries to talk through the tube and makes muffled cries as Roy talks to him . ::There is a concern of how his mind and lungs will function after such an aggressive resuscitation..But if we can save just this one precious life in this disastrous situation , then our day was worth it .:: he thought.

Johnny is witnessing the extubation procedure by his trusted partner, with the biophone in hand at the ready, if something else should go wrong with the boy . He now makes contact with the hospital .  
Johnny : "Rampart , County 51."

A very tired Dr . Brackett answers the radio , ##Go ahead, 51 .##

Johnny : " Rampart , update again on our patient that we initially contacted you about . We have administered another dose of epi and Solu-Medrol . Patient 's vital signs and level of consciousness have increased significantly . Vitals were BP 70/40 , pulse of 70 and thready , respirations were 8 to 10 and labored with an oxygen saturation of 80% . He was making purposeful movement upon painful stimuli by fluttering his eyelids and flexing fingers on both hands into a claw like position and extending them back into normal position " .

" Vitals are now BP 105/70 , pulse 86 and regular. We do not have current respirations and oxygen saturation at this time . The patient is displaying a normal sinus rhythm on the monitor. Request permission to extubate . "

Dr Brackett : ##51 , obtain respirations and oxygen saturation and contact as soon as possible.##

Johnny : " Standby, Rampart " .

Johnny ; " Al , what are the O2 sats ? "

Al : " 92 percent . He's got respirations of .... 18 . "

Johnny : " Okay , I'll tell Rampart . Rampart , County 51 " .

Dr . Brackett : ##Go ahead 51 , this is Rampart and it better be good ! ##

Johnny : " Update on our patient's vitals . We have respirations of 16 and his oxygen saturation is at 92 % . Requesting permission to extubate . " he repeated.

Dr . Brackett takes a long sigh to calm his already frazzled nerves and says. ##Okay, 51. Go ahead and extubate. Keep the patient on high flow oxygen at 15 liters by non-rebreather mask . Monitor his vitals closely and set up a breathing treatment with 0.90 ml , 0.5% Albuterol SVN when you can .##

Johnny : " Copy to extubate , keep on high flow O2 at 15 liters by non-rebreather. Give an albuterol treatment at 0.90ml SVN and monitor vitals . "

Dr . Brackett : ## 10-4, 51. ##

" Hey, Roy. Brackett said to go ahead and extubate. Then let's give him that albuterol treatment at 0.90ml. Put him on high flow O2 ."  
Gage said.

" Yeah , and let's hope that we can get him outta here " . Roy said . " Hey there ! " Roy said to the boy . " We are going to take the tube out now . Try to take a deep breath for us and hold it as long as you can . "

The boy musters enough strength to take in the deepest breath he could get into his lungs and with a gentle tug on the ET tube , paramedic Desoto places the end of the suction tip into the boy's mouth and suctions it out as the tube is easily removed . The boy begins to cough violently as Flint puts the child sized non-  
rebreather mask on his face .

" Okay , take deep breaths " . Roy instructs the boy as he coughs and gasps and holds the mask to his face . " What's your name ? Can you tell me your name ? "

The boy takes a breath in and says " Timmy.. "

" Timmy , my name is Roy. I am a paramedic with the Los Angeles County Fire Department . This is my partner, Johnny . We are going to help you and give you some medicine to breathe in and then we'll get you to the hospital, okay ? "

Timmy then nods his head in agreement .

Johnny Gage came up to Timmy and said. " Hey, Timmy. My name is Johnny . I am going to listen to your lungs . I understand that you have asthma . Do you take any medicine for it ? "

Timmy nods his head in affirmation to Johnny's question.

Gage says to the boy. " Timmy , can you tell me if you have allergies? It's really important that I know . "

Timmy nods his head in agreement to Johnny. Al then sees an object near the boy that appears to be a nylon wallet . Al picks up the wallet , opens it and sees a medical emergency card inside it belonging to the boy . Al comes over to Johnny and says .  
"Johnny , this might help you guys out . It looks like a medical emergency card. We found it here in this wallet . "

" Timmy , is this yours ? " Johnny said .

Timmy nodded yes . Johnny and Roy look at the medical information on the card and Roy said. " This boy has asthma , he's allergic to penicillin , peanuts , seafood and pet dander . He has O+ blood type and takes Proventil and receives antigen shots every three weeks . "

Gage turns to the boy and says " Timmy , did you take your medicine today ? "

He shook his head no .

" When was the last time you had your allergy shot ? Do you remember ? " Johnny said .

All of the sudden, the paramedics' HTs crackled with Captain Stanley's voice on the air .

##Squad 51 , HT 51 .##

" Squad 51 , go ahead, Cap." Desoto replied .

" Good news. We have word on three of our helicopters. Two of L.A. City's and one CHP are headed to this area for a med-evac . Mayfair has two ground units headed for this vicinity as well . HT 51 out .##

" HT 51 , Squad 51." Desoto said .

" That is good news.. How are Chet and Mike doing ? " , Roy inquired .

##They are trying to come to terms with the Code F . They still are Code I emotionally and have been taken off this assignment #  
Captain Stanley replied .

" Mommy , mommy ! " Timmy cried . " Where 's my mommy ? "

" She's not far away . She is being taken care of by some paramedics just like us right down in the hill there . In fact , she will be going to the same hospital as you are as soon as soon as the ambulance gets here . But maybe you will both get to ride in a helicopter instead... " Roy said .

" Mommy ! " Timmy cried out again .

" Hey Timmy,..don't worry . Now you will have to lie down and be quiet for us, or you might get sicker . " Johnny explained to him . " We are going to give some medicine for you to breathe in, to help you breathe better , okay ? "

Timmy 's emotional state settled down some as he replied , "Okay. " , in a weeping voice .

::For a boy his age, the trauma of being involved in such a catastrophe as the landslide in La Conchita Canyon, and being separated from his mother and friends, could be more than he could bear .:: thought Johnny.

The radios crackled again as Sam Lanier put out a countywide broadcast to all L.A. County Fire Department units from Pomona to Malibu , and from Pear Blossom to Palos Verde, as the dust settled from the landslide . Four alert beeps went off and Sam announced from his console at L.A. County Fire Department Headquarters .  
## L.A. to all units involved with the La Conchita Canyon incident : Situation report from Division 2. -- All access roads have been closed off due to light and heavy debris making motor vehicle traffic not possible . There is widespread damage to existing structures and utilities . Broken underground natural gas mains may rupture, causing high risk for explosions due to sparking power lines . The main power station has been severely damaged, resulting in widespread power outages within the region . Local water supply may be subject to contamination. Break ...##

Sam continues as those in command on the incident listen attentively . ##L.A . continuing . ..As of this time, here are the latest reports on casualties: 43 confirmed civilian Code F , ..no firefighter Code F .., 655 civilian Code I , 18 firefighter Code I ...Regionwide mutual aid has been requested and is en-route , L.A. clear . ##

---------------------------------------------------------

Photos : None.

From : crash200225 Sent : Thursday, June 30, 2005 5:50 AM Subject : [EmergencyTheaterLive] I Lift Up Mine Eyes Captain Stalney had settled Mike and Chet behind some boulders where the two emotionally shocked men could rest. Cap didn't want to leave them alone, but he had his hands full with the landslide. He left Mike an HT and reassured them he would be back to check on them when he could. Neither man responded, which further worried Cap. After a few more reassuring words, he left to join Johnny and Roy where they were working on the young boy.

Mike sat Chet with his back leaning against a large tree, then sat back himself. Both wore a dazed expression. Though Chet had not had an allergic reaction to the fire ants, Mike knew they had to still be burning and stinging. Chet never moved, and spoke not a word. In Chet's mind, he was reliving the events of the past hour, over and over again.

The chatter on the HT was comforting to Mike, though he didn't listen to what was being said. Instead, he concentrated on a flower at his feet. He was too numb to think and really didn't want to. At this moment, it was just a flower and Chet. That's all he would allow to enter his mind. He heard a noise to the left and uphill from where they were sitting. He turned his head and looked, but went back to contemplating the flower and a shining pebble next to it.

"You boys okay?", a soft voice asked. Receiving no reply, the question was asked again.

Mike looked up at the voice and was stunned to see a young woman squatting beside him.

"You guys are firemen, are you hurt?", she questioned.

Mike managed to shake his head 'No'.

"What about your friend? Looks like he got into a mess of fire ants."

Chet was still wet from the wash down and shivering. He was still in his own personal waking nightmare. He didn't speak or move. Just stared straight ahead.

"I got some water bottles and a couple of blankets in my backpack, if you need them. My name is Jolene, by the way."

Her soft, southern accent was slowly beginning to clear away the fog that seemed to envelop Mike's mind.

"What's your name?", she asked quietly. It was obvious to her that these men had seen something that had really rattled them. She didn't want to startle them.

"Mike, he's Chet", Mike mumbled.

Digging through her backpack, she brought out a bottle of water for Mike and a blanket which she wrapped around Chet. It was then that Mike noticed she was completely covered in dust.

"You were in the landslide?", he asked. "How did you get out?"

"Oh, us southern girls are tough as nails. Dern mountain came down on me. Had just enough time to grab my bag." Jolene smiled slightly. "Hey, got some stuff in here that'll take the sting out of Chet's bites. Think he'd mind?"

Mike just shrugged. His brain was still on overload, and talking was never one of his strong points.

"Where I'm from, that's a yeah." As she rummaged through her backpack, Sam's announcement came over the HT. "Oh my....."

"You understood that?", Mike asked as his face paled.

"I'm an EMT, so yeah, I understood it." Jolene's face was as pale as Mike's.

Neither man recognized the title she gave herself.

"They may need you down there. I'll contact Cap on the HT and let him know.", Mike stated, thinking she was hurt.

"I look more like a victim than EMT right now. Not certified in California yet." She knew she couldn't be of much help down there. "Why don't you call your Captain and let me speak to him a moment. I am more than what I appear to be."

After a brief conversation with Cap, it was agreed that Jolene would stay with Chet and Mike. Cap was secretly relieved that someone with some kind of medical training was with his two men.

"Well, it looks like you boys are stuck with me for awhile. Let's get Chet taken care of and then we'll see about getting a bit more comfortable. That root you've been sitting on must hurt your tail somethin' terrible. At least sit on this blanket or scoot over a foot or so." Jolene had taken over care for these strangers as a good samaritan.

The barest hint of a smile crossed Mike's face as he remembered a saying he had once read. ::I lift mine eyes unto these hills, from whence cometh my help:

Photos : None.

*  
Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 06:18:35 -0700 (PDT) From: "Jeff Seltun" Subject: Loose Ends

Marco Lopez looked up the moment the child had been taken by a secondary engine crew to the triage evacuation site. "Cap, I've marked these oxygen cylinders as empty with a fire search crayon.  
Where should I leave them for support pickup?"

Captain Stanley only briefly looked up at him. "By the road, there's a county oxygen supply truck running back and forth through town and they're exchanging them for new every fifteen minutes."

Lopez nodded, setting the two that had been used on Timmy and Diane with a clang down onto the cracked ground. "Who's that with Chet and Mike?" he asked, rubbing sweat and grime from his nose.

Stanley shrugged. "A girl who says she's an out of state EMT named Jolene."

Lopez frowned, "What's an EMT? Didn't know they have any of whatever those are, in our day and age."

"As far as I know, they don't. It probably means emergency mobile transport or some such. Or....maybe it's offshoots of Brackett's paramedic program branching out throughout the rest of the country or something that we haven't yet been made aware of, but that's a moot point. She's not certified to treat in California, so she says, with whatever her credentials are. But I'm sure glad someone who knows something medical's with Kelly and Stoker. They're still a bit emotionally winged. Go check on them and get a feel for their statuses. Roy says he'll be set to check them out in a few minutes. It'll be at least ten minutes or so before we're pulled out of here to go into the damage zone." Captain Stanely ordered.

"Right, Cap."

Marco jogged over to his stationmates. "Jolene? My name's Marco."

The dusty, plaid shirted blue jeaned girl looked up from where she was digging in her camper's knapsack. "Oh, you must be one of these two's crewmates." She read Marco's stencilled name on his turnout. "Mr. Lopez, I got some salve here for Chet's stings. Could you put some on? He's agreed to it. I know better than to practice out of jurisdiction so you can just wipe those suspicions right out of yer mind and be at ease. I only want to help. Even if only through the tiny legal ways I still can use. Is a paramedic coming soon to check em out?"

"Yeah, Roy is. He's getting set to come over here after he speaks with a policeman about the treatment he and Johnny Gage gave a little boy without parental consent."

Jolene set out six water bottles and the rest of her blankets. She handed the tube of anesthetic salve to Marco so he would use it in her place. "Who's Johnny Gage?"  
and before Marco could answer, she figured it out. "Ah,..his partner. Makes sense now."

Marco noticed the out of state EMS i.d. she had set out next to her feet on the dirt to thwart the PD scene patrollers from ousting her and to keep others from considering her a walking wounded who was unattended. "Where were you when that hill came down?"

"From my house, I saw the mountain pop loose." she said.  
"At least four homes in that area are destroyed or seriously damaged. Including mine." She lowered her head as she watched Marco apply the salve to the worst of Chet's bites. She cracked both Kelly and Stoker some water bottles and made them drink. "A lot of kids were on my street, too, because the schools were closed for PTA meetings."

"Can you tell me what you've seen with all the debris? The reports from L.A. aren't covering that part of it."

At that, Stoker sighed, shook himself, and started paying better attention to what was happening around him as he drained the whole bottle of water in his hand.  
Then he concentrated on getting Chet to drink something, including bathing his face with some of its icy chill and a towel from Jolene's survival pack.

The dusty young woman went on with her account. "The slide is about forty feet high.  
It was very scary. It looked like that it wasn't going to stop. It looked like liquid dirt.  
But it didn't surprise me too much. This south facing beach has gotten over twelve inches of rain over the course of last night."

"That explains the fog hanging over the area even during these late afternoon hours."  
Marco said.

"I saw broken bones with the crews that are working and a lot of injuries, but only one fatality. I've been the one directing folks to come over to your squad and engine."

"We'll, we're bringing in all sorts of heavy equipment now. So we are making progress." Lopez said.

Cap, nearby, started giving orders out to the arriving fire stations that had been assigned to them. ##Assess the area, Engine 236. Make sure the site is secure so none of our rescuers are in danger. Truck 127, stand by foam in case of fuel leaks from the roadside oil pumping stations north of town. Engine 18, grab chainsaws, and axes. Try to locate any potential trap victims.## he barked into his HT.  
Jolene nodded with satisfaction at the alacrity with which Cap was delegating tasks.  
He reminded her of a Battalion Chief she knew very well in Texas. "Marco, it's bad.  
I found two people. I got one young girl out. Firecrews just extricated the other one."

Marco startled and looked around for folks headed into their direction.

Jolene touched his arm. "It's all right. They were on the other side of the slide.  
They'll be getting to the triage station from the opposite side away from us."  
she went on. "I could hear the voices. I climbed up on top of the rubble and the mud.  
And two other guys came in and were helping me. She was buried. Very buried."

"Did she make it?" Marco asked as he finished putting the pain killing ointment on the worst of Chet Kelly's ant bites. Then he pulled Chet's shirt and turnout back on, leaving one of his arms bare for a future BP cuff.

"She made it. They got her out." the young first aider woman said, biting her lip.  
"I have another theory about why this happened. It's not the first time you know.  
Cutting a road seriously undermined the stability of the slope's mass and contributed to the slide. You can just see it there at the head of the scarp. There's been a long history of problems in this area. Some even blame the one rancher up there for planting all those avocado and lemon trees and how he irrigates them."

Mike Stoker suddenly shook himself and pulled his HT out of his pocket.  
"Engine 51 to HT 51 Command." he said.

Jolene and Marco looked at him with close attention while he twirled the stem of a wildflower in his hand as he waited for a reply from Captain Stanley.

##Go ahead, Stoker.##

"Cap, put me to work. It'll do a lot to ground me even faster. I can't just sit here."  
Mike said non regulation.

There was a pause on the other end of the frequency. ##10-4, HT 51. Report to me at the west intersection in one. Grab a shovel.##

Stoker smiled then, giving Chet's shoulder a caring squeeze and he let out a quavering sigh as he still struggled with the stress of victim loss as he stood. "Tell Chet I'll find a live one for him." he said to Jolene and Marco.

"We will." grinned Jolene, wiping some filthy hair away from her eyes.

Stoker jogged off into the direction of the sunny, fogged shrouded, Ward LaFrance for tools. He waved as he left at Roy, who was coming from the opposite direction to attend Chet with a drug box and vitals kit, to show the paramedic that he was fine.

Roy did a double take back at Stoker as he knelt by Kelly to begin a vitals set.  
"I thought he was still pole axed mentally." he grinned.

"He was, but he got over it." mumbled a sleepy Chet. "Never underestimate flower power. He's still got one in his hand."

Roy glanced down in a frown at Kelly. "What's he talking about?" and he started to examine Chet's eyes with a pen light for signs of abnormal reactions from the ant venom.

"Nothing that's a fantasy. Your man used the weeds growing in front of him to focus on for a while until he worked things through enough to shake himself out of it." answered Jolene.

"Fair enough. Thanks,...Miss..." Roy dug for a name.

"Jolene. Jolene Morphew.." she replied. "His breathing rate's twenty and even. I've been keeping tabs on it."

Roy's eyes glanced down at the strange cert card lying on top of the knapsack,  
but he didn't inquire further. "I take it Stoker cleared himself."

"Yep. And Cap went along with it." Marco supplied the rest of some vital signs.  
"His pulse's still 120 and rapid, but he's cooling off. He's had some of this water to drink and the red rash on his chest isn't getting any larger."

Roy nodded. "Thank heavens for small miracles." he said, taking a quick blood pressure reading off Chet's blanket bared arm. "....Well,..." he sighed. "You're not doing too bad after being ant bait, Chester B. Kelly. It's 100/68. How do you feel now with this salve on?"

"I still feel like a pin cushion. Those things were biting and stinging at the same time, Roy. From both ends!"

"Yeah, well. They're gone and it'll cheer ya to know that they don't leave behind any stingers like bumblebees or yellow jackets do."

"Oh, wonderful..." moaned Chet. "They save em for later to get the next guy, huh?  
Don't think I like that idea very much."

"I don't think the state does either, Mr. Kelly. That's probably why they're still spreading into California from Texas.." said Jolene. "No one can get near enough to some of the larger fire ant colonies to exterminate them with chemicals."

"How's the kid? I saw you two working on him." coughed Chet.

Roy smiled openly for the first time in hours. "He's gonna make it. He was almost one hundred percent stable when we loaded him up."

"Good.." said Chet, too quickly. "That's--that's very good news.*cough*"

Roy got out his stethoscope and checked out Chet's lungs, listening for any signs of fluid buildup. "Shhh, and let me listen.. Take three deep breaths, Chet.  
I want to know why you're coughing." The four of them fell silent as the quick chest exam was Roy looked up. "You tight in here at all?" DeSoto asked, gesturing to his own chest.

"A little. But it's not bad. Just slightly itchy. I think it's from all this dust." Kelly replied.

"Yeah, well. Let's be safe better than sorry. Get set, Chet. The new standing protocols of Early's requires that I give an IM of epi to anyone with the slightest hint of chest trouble."

Chet started to anse. "Oh, man.. Roy, you know I hate shots."

"You'd hate getting intubated even more if I don't nip this light edema of yours in the butt right now. You're not reacting, but you might a few hours later on when more of this venom leaves the fat under your skin for your blood stream. Let's stop your mild reaction process before it decides to roller coaster on us, ok?"  
DeSoto said, holding the unshealthed needle and syringe behind his back so Chet couldn't see it. "I promise it'll hurt less than one of those ant bites did on ya earlier."

"Ok, get it over with. All I want is a hard cot out of the sun in a personnel recovery station somewhere to sleep it off. I'm groggy." said Kelly.

Roy said. "Now that's just the emotional part of things working on ya. Your BP's doing fine for getting partially eaten alive by hundreds of insects." he quipped. "It'll come up faster if you drink that whole water bottle. Then I won't have to start an I.V. on ya."

"Not a second needle?! No way, man. I'm not getting another one." And with that, Chet lifted up his previously barely sipped water bottle and started chugging away.

Jolene went on with her tale of how it happened. " The news choppers were all set on hover over my house and they weren't going away. I thought, how annoying. So I called the police department to complain...'Why in the devil are there all these helicopters over my house?' I asked." 'La Conchita Canyon's had a major landslide. 20 homes wiped out. We're evacuating the canyon. Turn on your TV.' they said. 'Which channel?' I asked.  
'All of them.' said the sargeant. Yikes....I no sooner flicked on the TV set when the rest of the hill came down on me." she said, brushing more dirt off of her shirt and pants legs.

Roy glanced at her. "You sure you're not hurt?"

"Positive. Save your skills for someone else." Jolene answered. "I know how triage works in California and how scarce the medics are around here today.  
I've only seen three squads responded to our location."

"That'll be my squad from 51's, squad 45 and squad 18. The others must all be busy elsewhere in the city." DeSoto said rubbing his chin as he gave Chet his .3 mgs of epinephrine.

"Owww.." said Chet.

"You'll live. Now let Jolene get you to the road and to the rest and recovery tent.  
Stay near a nurse for the next two hours in case you go into rebound, ok?"

"I will."

Roy packed up his drug box and BP cuff set once more. He got up and started jogging after Johnny, who was headed towards Cap to get their next victim to treat.  
"Take it easy, Chet. Thanks, Jolene, for watching my friends." He uptook Cap's jacket, which had been cast aside for one of Jolene's camping blankets, to give back to him.

"Anytime. Be careful out there." she said, helping Chet get up off the ground.  
She slung an arm of his over her shorter shoulders and slowly, they got up to head for the road. A police car quickly stopped to give them a lift to the first aid tents and budding incident command center.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dixie McCall turned to Kel the moment the child had been stabilized.  
"What's got you, Kel? You're acting like you've got ants in the pants."  
she chided. "You nearly bit Roy's head off when he said he didn't have an oximeter or resp count for you yet."

"Gee, Dix.." he replied sharply. "I'm surprised you even have to ask me that. Let's see... I've got three paramedic teams out there with hundreds of slide victims and none of them has a working biophone between them.  
They're in a canyon shadow, remember? This kid call came to me through an emergency HT patch through the county fire department comm board.  
Now what happens if they have to treat simultaneous victims when we can only listen to one case at a time through the intercom patching system?"

Dixie didn't even blink. "Then aren't you glad Joe started updating all of them on the new off radio protocols last week? The only station he hasn't gotten to on that, for final testing, is 51's. But you've no cause to fret about Roy or Johnny's ability because they are just too d*mned good at what they do to screw up."

"We hope." said Brackett, rubbing a headachy head. "Who knows what happened with that drug overdose. I haven't heard any ambulance dispatcher call her in, as arriving here."

Dixie fell silent. "Maybe she didn't make it for some cack odd reason. They are in a danger zone."

"Maybe. But I hate not knowing." he replied.

"Join the club. I'm sure they feel the same way searching for all those slide victims. Be glad you aren't one of them, digging out." McCall sniffed.

"Sorry, Dix. You know I hate disaster calls."

"I think everyone does." she said, accepting the apology. "But I'm easing your sense of helplessness even as we speak.." she admitted.

"How?" asked Brackett.

"I told Joe Early about the landslide way before Squad 18 got their call to respond. I'm sure he's now riding along with them."

"Dixie, you're beautiful!" celebrated Kel. "He can cover any questionable treatment territory from the triage station on a walkie!"

"And you,...can finally stop chewing up your nurses. See ya.." she said,  
heading for the coffee lounge down the hall before Brackett embarrassed himself further by hugging her in public.

Brackett sat down heavily onto Dixie's vacated desk chair in profound relief and chuckled ruefully.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Photo: La Conchita's landslide from road level.

Photo: La Conchita's slide from above, eating houses.

Photo: Roy treating someone down with a woman civilian watching.

Photo: A tourniquetted arm getting an IV shot.

Photo: Engine 36 arriving.

Photo: An aerial view of diggers on a landslide.

*  
From: "Cassidy Meyers" Date: Thu Jun 30, 2005 2:59 pm Subject: Basement Depths

Captain Stanley watched Roy and Johnny run up the hill to where he was standing along the line of fire engines working the landslide. He directed them to task instead of to another patient care call. "Roy, Johnny.. Stoker's working on the third house down there. Searchers thought they heard activity underneath it. But watch yourselves, there's still some mass wasting coming from the cliff like scarp at the head of the slump from unconsolidated sediment. Note this, you've got people from the town's local fire department helping you out so you don't have to go get tools. They're on channel seven. I'll have a link open to them and to you. Stoker's got one of our K-12's and three air bottles in case of a fire."

"Right, Cap."

"How's Chet, Roy?" Hank asked as they walked by.

"He's fine. He had some light rhonci which cleared up right away with only one injection. I sent him to the R & R part of the triage station." DeSoto replied.

"Good going. Thanks for the update." Cap nodded, his helmet strap swaying in the breeze. Then he turned back to Battalion One to plan out broader rescue efforts.

Overhead, the newscast crews buzzed the canyon site with their helicopters relentless. But they didn't interfere with the landing zone set up by the school for patient evacuations. In fact, the pilots from the televisions stations often gave out condition reports to the incoming rescue pilots.

Gage and DeSoto got to work. They met up with Stoker right away.  
"Mike? Whatdiya got?!" Johnny shouted over the din of the working circular saw.

Mike Stoker didn't stop spliting the main beam he was slicing through.  
"Witnesses said they saw a man dive in between a couple of cars when the slide came down. I've found the two cars inside this house. I'm cutting down into a crawl space to see if the victim's still there where he took cover."

"Have you heard any signs?"

"Not me. But these guys from La Conchita did." and he nodded at the two volunteer fire department men rapidly digging off jumbles of mud and a pile of splintered wood from under Mike's spinning blade.

"He's down there." said one of them.

A creaking sagging sound of stressed roofing made all the men duck as the cockeyed slanted floor and ceiling of the house started moving again infinitesimally.

Roy spoke again as he took up a pike and started rolling large timbers out of the way with his feet. "Are you sure we're on stable ground?"

"As stable as it gets. The USGS said this spot's ok. Any settling will just be damaged house support beams giving way to gravity. The worst is over and the landslide's energy was spent in the first couple of seconds."

"Until the next one.." said his partner ominiously. "This slide only took five years to build up after the last one."

"Then why do they build here?" asked Johnny.

"For the money. The climate and the natural springs in La Conchita are just too good to pass up. But I'll agree, it's stupid that they don't see the old slide zones as well as we can. I've been at city hall for years trying them to stop rebuilding in this arroyo because of the slide risk. Now, this happens and it's gonna suck when I have to tell em, I told ya so.. yet again." said the local fireman.

"It sure will.." echoed his partner.

"What were you doing in the area? We didn't hear 51 get called out from the county." said the first fireman who was helping Roy push away massive cracked timbers from the house's garage frame.

"We were transporting a drug case by ambulance, taking a short cut. Then the slide hit us as we were going through town to avoid some traffic we didn't know was related to the slide here." Gage replied.

"Oh my G*d. We saw that boulder in the road. Anyone get hurt from that?"

"Not directly. Our victim died on us when some fire ants ravaged her, a crewmate, and our ambulance attendants, after we got out of there."Johnny said tightly,  
grunting as he dug in with his shovel into the disturbed dirt sucking around his ankles.

"I'm so sorry. Those d*mned things came with the home builders. Came on a load of southern state lumber according to one teacher in the school who's been studying them. Are your buddies ok?"

"Yeah, no one was allergic. And everyone else effected will get over it."  
::I hope.:: he thought privately.

Joe Early came over 51's HTs. ##Squads 51, 18 and 45. I'm on scene and will be open for any medical traffic should you encounter a situation warranting detailed treatment decisions. Use your walkies normally. I have been given three to cover each of you.##

"HT 51 to La Conchita Base, 10-4, doc.." smiled Gage as he heard the other two pairs of paramedics acknowledge Dr. Early at the same time over the airwaves.  
"We've got a live one working, but he's still out of our reach. Stand by.." he said.

##Standing by, 51.## replied Joe.

Johnny pushed down his HT's antennae and he stuffed it into a side pocket.

Roy gave a shout. "I think I see something! Mike, hold off on the K-12 a second. I wanna hear for a bit.."

Stoker snuffed the power to an idle and set it down.

"Hey!!" Roy shouted into a deep hole that seemed to be in the basement of the foundation jilted house. His feet rested on the roof of one of the two cars that had been described by witnesses. And the bumper of the second was just visible through the pile of red dirt that Johnny was sifting through. "Fire Department! Can you hear me? Shout if you can!" he ordered.

A muffled moan to Roy's left sounded, from underneath the still buried car.

"He's alive.." DeSoto said with a tight expression. "But he's under there."  
he said pointing to the still buried second car with his lit flashlight.

Gage coughed. "What I'm trying to figure out is how these cars.  
got into the basement."

One of the La Conchita men replied. "Easy, the house rolled on top of them from the cliff top upslope. This is actually the streetside curb underneath us. See?" and he pointed to a yellow fire hydrant that was oddly jilted against a pool table that was still standing upright next to them. "I just hope nobody was home when it did."

"Yeah.." Johnny agreed wholeheartedly. " Uggmmhhf! I can't get to him. Looks like all of us are going to have to crawl down into the basement to get to him. Let me get my belt on. Roy, tell Incident Command where we're headed. I'm sure Cap's gonna wanna know that we're going into a slide hole."

"Already did. He's coming himself to help us out. Battalion Two has taken over for him." Roy replied.

Soon, Stoker, Cap, Roy, Johnny, and Marco were completely covered in darkness inside the destroyed basement. Only a tiny hole showed the way back to the top of the landslide's edge. Johnny began to take heart when he smelled neither natural gas nor blood or bowel material in the shattered room. "La Conchita.." he said into his radio.

##51, go.## said the two firemen watching the climbing ropes which had carried station 51 down into the angled house.

"Looks like we won't need our air bottles nor the mast suit. Just a stokes!"  
he shouted.

##It's on the way down.##

Roy crawled under the first car and had to drag himself from bumper to bumper in order to reach the moaning man they all heard clearly now under the second. He was grateful that all eight tires on the car hadn't been blown by flying slide debris. "Hey,.. how are you doing?" DeSoto asked as he peeled off a glove to feel for the semi conscious man's carotid.

"I thought I .. had found myself a really...good safe ...spot." he panted.

"You did. A house fell on ya and you're not a pancake on the pavement."  
quipped Johnny from above. "Can you tell us what hurts on ya?"

"My head...and...my knee. The left one. I think I blacked out for a couple of seconds." said the trapped man.

"Can you move at all? Is anything pinning you down?"

"I can move. Just too dizzy to." he gasped. "Afraid to move.."

"You don't have to. We'll do all the work getting you outta here." soothed Roy. "Just try to relax.." he said sweeping his hands over the man's back and sides and limbs, looking for wet spots or deformities. "No fractures or major bleeders, Johnny."

"Ok. How's his neck?" Gage asked.

Roy felt along it. "What's your name? Can you tell me that?"

"Martin.." said the man. "And it's Tuesday around six o'clock. Look mister,  
I'm not that bad. Just got a headache. My neck's fine, just get me outta here. I gotta find out where my brother is..."

The rescuers fell silent.

Captain Stanley spoke up from where he crouched under the low ceiling of the broken house's floor boards. "Where was he when the landslide hit?"

"At the school....He always goes to play on the swingsets on vacation days."

Everyone let out the breaths they were holding.

Hank smiled. "Martin. Everything's fine. The school wasn't hit at all.  
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if your brother's running around all the fire engines parked there. That's where we have set up our triage operations."

Martin sighed as he let Roy check his eyes out with a penlight. "That's a relief."

DeSoto grinned. "Well, it looks like you aren't hurt too bad. Your pulse's strong and both your pupils are reacting normally."

"Thought I was just bumped and bruised. Can I try and get off my stomach now?"

"Wait until I get this lifebelt around ya.." said Roy. "Then we'll get you pulled out of there."

"Ok.."

Gage motioned in the dim space. "Stoker.. go ahead and start cutting. If we get this fender off right here. I think we can get Martin out sideways instead of making him crawl the same way Roy did getting to him."

"Martin, I'm gonna give you some oxygen to help push away some of that dizziness you're feeling. Ok. Just breathe this in normally." Roy said as he pressed a passive demand valve over the dusty man's nose and mouth so he could get its full benefit.

Martin closed his eyes gratefully.

Stoker and Hank got to work on splitting the car open just behind the front driver tire.

They had pulled the chassis away when the rest of the house came down unexpectedly, sending the two firefighters from La Conchita spilling into the hole after the 51 gang and it motion sprawled them spreadeagle on top of the two cars. Dirt and debris rained down, covering everyone like sand into the bottom chamber of an hourglass.

Gage's panicky voice rang out through the main emergency channel on HT.  
##Emergency! Cave-in at 51's location. We need an immediate emergency resp---## Then it choked off.

Dirt completely filled the basement and started to bury all the firefighters as the house collapsed like a falling house of cards.

Two minutes later.. firemen came in a barely controlled panic when none of their hails were answered by 51 or La Conchita on any band.

They started digging at the ruins of the house's front porch as fast as they could.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Photo: Gage in a dark space, falling in turnout.

Photo: A house collapsing on itself in a landslide.

Photo: Cap working with Gage in tight quarters.

Photo: Stoker watching Gage climb into darkness.

Photo: A victim on a demand valve.

Photo: Los Angeles County firemen digging through weeds to get to a house's porch door.

*  
From: "patti keiper" Date: Thu Jun 30, 2005 5:23 pm Subject: In Certain Terms...

The glow of the setting sun, twinkling off ocean waves, now glinted off the large brown gash that marred the verdant hillside above La Conchita.

The whole gang of 51's sat up in a row on the grass of the school yard, on a curb, getting treated for suffocation effects. Each one wore a high flow oxygen mask and were getting medically treated by the remaining members of La Conchita's fire department.

Joe Early was working down the line listening to each fireman's chest in turn for any developing problems.

Johnny Gage was still coughing occasionally, so he was the first to get his blood pressure taken by a rescue worker.  
He pulled his mask to the side as he spit out a wad of dirt from his mouth. "Roy, tell me again how we all managed to get out of there. I still can't believe it..."

"Stoker dove under the pool table and found a firewood storage bin under the stairs. He opened it up and we all piled in, jammed together like sardines. Guess we ran outta air soon after. I only remember waking up here a few minutes before you did."

Gage held his arm still while a first aider took his blood pressure.  
"Thanks, Stoker.. I owe you another one...." coughed Johnny.

"Pay me back by cooking dinner tonight. Then we'll be even."  
sighed Stoker from where he sat a little farther down the street curb wearing his own oxygen supply.

"Awww, man.." sighed Gage. "Not KP again. You asked for that when you got me out of that factory fire last week."

"I stick with what works, Gage. I'm that kind of guy." Stoker said, peering over around Cap and Roy, to peg Johnny with an ironic glare.

Gage tried to smile for his caregiver and hide some residual shaking. "What's it at?"

"120/74.. Coming up.." she replied.

"Thanks." he told her. Then he raised his voice again. "Hey, hey, hey.  
That's seven out of seven not in bad shock. What a track record. Say, Cap. Wouldn't you say that La Conchita's got a faster rescue response time than we do? They dug down to us in two hours flat, and through rock debris, too."

"They're fast enough, or we wouldn't all be breathing so good right now."  
Hank replied.

They all watched as a sleeping Martin was closely attended by firemen getting him set to fly out to Rampart. Joe Early had long ago treated him and stabilized his oxygen levels enough for an aerial transport.

The helicopter bearing him away had become a dot in the darkening sky when they all turned their heads at some jaunty whistling that somehow didn't seem out of place. It was Chet Kelly, bearing a box full of ice cold bottled water and some sandwiches. "I love the Red Cross. Ran into Jolene again and she got me these. There's enough for everybody here. Eat up.."

Gage went with that completely. "Yeah, eat up guys, I promise I'll cook tomorrow night. That okay with you, Stoker? I'm kinda tired still."

"Fine with me, Just make sure dinner isn't pizza again like that last time. That was cheating." Mike replied.

The others laughed, looking comical behind their oxygen masks.

Chet paused when he reached Johnny, who was the only one who had had an I.V. started. "So you didn't wake up fast enough for them, huh?"

"Guess I didn't. My NS I.V.'s still running wide open. But gimme something, I'm just as thirsty as the rest of em." he complained.

Chet grinned, playing keep away for a few times until relenting and finally giving Johnny his allotment of food and water. "Got a joke for ya'all that I've been thinking about."

"Oh, yeah? What's that?" smiled Roy from where he was getting a small head cut bandaged.

Chet lined himself up so everyone, including the two La Conchita firemen who were caught inside the collapsing house with his own station's men, could hear him. "Why is hating fire ants considered a genetic trait?"

No one knew the answer.

Kelly delivered his line. "Because they often run in people's jeans. That's why."  
he said smacking his own pair that he had changed into once he was recorded officially as a code I casualty off duty.

All the sitting firemen groaned, startling their caregivers for a moment until their rescuers realized that nothing was actually wrong with them.

Cap sighed under his oxygen mask and toyed with his still actively broadcasting HT. His eyes wandered over to the sunlit slope nearby that showed clear signs of backward rotated trees that had been going on for years. "I wonder if they've seen that..." he said pointing them out to the others.

"We have.." replied one of the injured La Conchita men. "That's plot 76-A in the teacher's log, who's been studying the mountain. He's been my main supporter whenever we start crying wolf about landslide conditions cropping up again,  
in city hall meetings. Seems the obvious in front of their noses still means nothing to the mayor and his board of directors." he said, wincing as a worker splinted his sprained ankle carefully.

"Well, I don't think anybody can ignore that, this time around.." said Hank, tossing his helmetless head up at the gouged hillside above the town.

"Not this time.." said the passionate fireman. "It's just a shame that so many people had to die before something constructive gets done. You can count on me fighting the house builders in a few months so they don't make the same mistake a third time."

"Maybe instead of saying I told ya so to them.. you should just sit back and wait to see what they do on their own this time.." Stoker suggested.

The La Conchita fireman laughed. "I'm nice, but I'm not that nice. They need their butts kicked so no more people will die. Isn't that strange how suddenly, everybody's gets selective hearing whenever someone starts talking future-disasters-that-could-be, in council?"

"Ahh, now that's the 'what ifs' factor working..." Cap chuckled. "We encounter that all the time working with our brand of bureaucrats about earthquake risks in L.A. Only we don't have just a isolated hillside to think about. We have miles long faultlines,.. and some of them are cutting right through the heart of downtown."

"I read that. Isn't the La Brea Tarpits bubbling up from one?"

"Yep." said Roy. "Seems the smell isn't enough of a warning sign. And they built a museum situated there right alongside the tar lake."

Chet chuckled. "Now isn't that the craziest idea you've ever heard?"

"Nope." said Gage with a wry smile. "Building at all in California's the craziest."  
He started ticking off negative points on his scraped up fingers.  
"We got too little water for the population, we burn up every fall with all the brush fires because we let things overgrow too much, and we let ourselves *cough*  
suffocate under our wonderfully orange traffic caused smog cap because of perpetual desert/seabreeze inversions that we know we can't do anything to eleviate. Now that's stupid."

"Speaking of ideas. I've been thinking..." Kelly went on.

"Uh, oh. Here it comes.." Marco said taking another breath from his oxygen tank.

"No, hear me out. This is good, guys. Remember the contest the chief sorta ordered us to enter this morning?"

"Yeah.." Roy replied for the rest of them.

"Well, I tinkered a bit in the first aid tent and came up with something that I think will revolutionize at least one of your older paramedic protocols. I brought it along with me. It's right here."

At this, Gage started paying attention and stopped chewing his food.

Chet Kelly reached under himself and pulled out what looked like a low metal stool with an opening square of bars between the support legs in front. He picked it up and headed for the gurney that Roy and Johnny were sitting on. "Roy, get up for a sec. Johnny, lie down on the bed on your back. Here, I'll string your I.V. up on the pole."

"What are you up to?"

"Just something I thought about, thinking about Diane Hart." Chet replied.  
"I had hours to do that you know, while they poked and prodded at me."

That quieted the others respectfully. By then, everyone knew the name of the drug overdose fatality that squad 51 had run unsuccessfully due to horrifying circumstances.

Johnny lay down and Chet set the modified stool over Johnny's stomach,  
Then he climbed up and sat down. Its foot stands were completely on the gurney.  
Then he reached down through the square gap and flicked opened Johnny's shirt,  
"Hold still Gage, I'm using you as a demo." Chet framed his hands into a CPR position on Johnny's sternum. "See this? I'm gonna call it a CPR jack. Sitting up here like this makes me part of the gurney so I'll bounce at the same time any arrest victim does in a moving ambulance no matter how bumpy the road becomes. Compressions will stay even constantly. Can you picture it?  
You guys won't ever have to give sh*tty CPR again en route. This special seat of mine will smooth that right out." And with that, Kelly got down off the stretcher,  
lifted his invention off the gurney and he helped Gage sit up again and he helped him swing his legs over the side and back onto the ground. He gave a jaunty little bow as the others slowly started clapping in utterly stunned amazement.

Captain Stanley took off his O2 mask, pulling it around his neck. "You know, I think this idea just might win McConnike's contest, gang.." he said, getting excited. He startled when a rescuer first aider suddenly hurried to his side to put it back on again, chiding him for taking it off when her back was turned.

"It might at that.." smiled Roy. "It sure would be nice if we had no inspections for an entire year."

Johnny was so incredulous, that he forgot to cough. "We're gonna win."

"We sure are.." said Chet. "I was inspired by Diane directly, guys. I'll even call this the Hart CPR jack in her honor, man, on the official papers.  
It's the least I can do. And when it goes to market, I'll make sure to set it up so her family gets all the profits instead of me."

"What a guy.." said Stoker. "That's so cool. Wish I had thought of this."  
said the station's CPR expert, examining all the solder marks Chet had made to it.

"In certain terms, I thought of it for all of us, guys. And I'm dedicating it to everyone who's died here today." Kelly whispered.

Thoughtfully, Station 51 and La Conchita's crew raised an impromptu toast with their cracked bottles of water and soon, all of them said their prayers and humble thoughts of consolation for the La Conchita and firefighter dead, to the arriving night wind which was blowing up softly from the beach below them.

FIN Episode Twenty Two- In Certain Terms

END

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Photos: None.

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